tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6918056148962752972024-03-13T23:33:42.288-07:00Rá around the WorldAfter India...Ráhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12728491369182071333noreply@blogger.comBlogger48125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-691805614896275297.post-2526006466580034012011-12-21T12:06:00.000-08:002011-12-21T14:09:59.629-08:00TOSCANY... my love<div style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"><br /></span></div><span class="Apple-style-span" style=" ;font-size:16.2037px;"><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: x-small;"><br /></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color:#FF6600;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: x-small;">I didn't foresee t</span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(255, 102, 0); "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: x-small;">his one. The plan was to attend </span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color:#99FF99;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: x-small;">Vito's wedding</span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: x-small;"> in Salerno, and then head North </span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(255, 102, 0); "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: x-small;">Italy to my Number 1 in Travel Wishes List: FLORENCE. The rest would go as it would come. And so it went, in June 2011.</span></span></div><div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color:#FF6600;"><div style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color:#000000;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: x-small;"><br /></span></span></div></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color:#FF6600;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: x-small;">What I didn't expect was to be striked by Italy's beauty in </span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style=" color: rgb(255, 102, 0); "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: x-small;">natural and cultural heritage in every city... Yes, I should have known better from History classes and common sense.</span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color:#FF6600;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: x-small;">Rome had already surprised me in 2007 and hey! - we all have heard of the wonders of Venice or Florence or even Pisa... But </span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color:#FF6600;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: x-small;">little did I know when I thought that apart from Milan's fashion and some other </span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(255, 102, 0); "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: x-small;">historical cities like Genova... there weren't that many other ex-libris in The Boot.</span></span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color:#FF6600;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: x-small;"><br /></span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color:#FF6600;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: x-small;">Well I was really wrong. I got that impression already when I was asking around about what cities I should visit around </span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style=" color: rgb(255, 102, 0); "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: x-small;">Florence...</span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color:#FF6600;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: x-small;">When I left Lisbon the plan was to do Salerno - some town close </span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(255, 102, 0); "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: x-small;">to it with Marcela and Riquita - Florence, Siena, San Gimignano and Cinque Terre.</span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color:#FF6600;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: x-small;">The weather made me change plans and I ended up doing the following path:</span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color:#FF6600;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: x-small;"><br /></span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: x-small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color:#FF6600;"></span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color:#FF6600;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: x-small;">- </span></span><b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color:#99FF99;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: x-small;">SALERNO</span></span></b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color:#FF6600;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: x-small;">, or to be more precise: Battiplaglia for the wedding. It was great to see Vito happy. He's an example to me. Salerno, in the end, was left without a proper visit.</span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color:#FF6600;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: x-small;"><br /></span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: x-small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color:#FF6600;"></span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color:#FF6600;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: x-small;">- The plan to go to Pompei with the girls was ruined by the train schedules (and the unfriendly ticket-sellers :) ) and became a half-a-day trip to </span></span><b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color:#99FF99;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: x-small;">NAPOLI</span></span></b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color:#FF6600;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: x-small;">, in my eyes unworthy of a tourist visit, at least if payed on purpose.</span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color:#FF6600;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: x-small;"><br /></span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: x-small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color:#FF6600;"></span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color:#FF6600;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: x-small;">- That train trip led to us to meet Arthur though. And that made me meet the beautiful </span></span><b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color:#99FF99;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: x-small;">CAPRI</span></span></b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color:#FF6600;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: x-small;">. The romantic Island definitely has its enchantments: a lot of quality of living is hidden amongst the houses that proudly scroll down the mountains while the luxury of the shops exhibits how expensive and posh it is to stay there... The trip around the island is worth it because of the "Blue Cave", where the under-cave ocean meets the most intensive cristal blue as the sunlight enters the massive hanging rocks from underneath... Unforgettable!</span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color:#FF6600;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: x-small;"><br /></span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: x-small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color:#FF6600;"></span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color:#FF6600;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: x-small;">- From the Island, Napoli train brought me to the most expected </span></span><b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color:#99FF99;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: x-small;">FLORENCE</span></span></b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color:#FF6600;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: x-small;">. I had been wanting to go there since I missed it in 2007 due to fever... I expected a lot, I knew I would meet the origins of humanistic thought and arts. I knew I would stand in front of the major paintings that I studied for 6 months in Madrid... but I couldn't believe when I actually found myself in front of those masterpieces: Boticcelli's "The Birth of Venus" and "Spring"; the ancient realism of Masaccio's, Lippi's and Masolino's frescos depicting St. Peter's life at Capella Brancacci; the Duomo is a-ma-zing especially on the outside... But I was surprised with the concentration of architectural beauty, massive buildings that leave you out of breath... at every corner.</span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style=" color: rgb(255, 102, 0); "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: x-small;"><br /></span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: x-small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color:#FF6600;"></span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style=" color: rgb(255, 102, 0); "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: x-small;">STOP</span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(255, 102, 0); "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: x-small;">... </span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(255, 102, 0); "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: x-small;">This was all I managed to write close after return. I also remember Luana with whom I shared a 6 people-room in Firenze - a Brazilian medical intern that I want to go back in touch with, who knows to share "El Camino de Santiago"... For now I shall add to my own Italian Impressionism that:</span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color:#FF6600;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: x-small;"><br /></span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: x-small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(255, 102, 0); "></span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color:#FF6600;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: x-small;">- </span></span><b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color:#99FF99;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: x-small;">LUCA</span></span></b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color:#FF6600;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: x-small;"> left a mark on me for the welcoming of the owner of the guest house that I took 1 "lost" hour to find; the gentleness of the restaurant girls who had me eat gnocchi and a glass of wine toped with a typical warm drink and cookies... in a perfectly romantic yet alone outside evening dinner. The wall that surrounds the city leaves a unique space for walking and gave me the guts to ride a bike on my own: indeed so simple, I just need to let go! Finally the view from the tree-decorated top of one of the towers also touched my senses as so-like grown-up and kids carried on with their lives in the midst of the brown city right below my feet.</span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color:#FF6600;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: x-small;"><br /></span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color:#FF6600;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: x-small;">- The </span></span><b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color:#99FF99;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: x-small;">TOSCANY</span></span></b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color:#FF6600;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: x-small;"> natural landscape, its green mountains bottomed by shy-flowing rivers, the calmness of the wooden houses... all of it and more would have been strange to me if only I hadn't taken the wrong train from Luca to Pizza. When 1h30 later I finally realized it (as all my travelling was a bit improvised and went as it came), I had the luck to be allowed into a return train while it moved in departure already... where I traveled alone with the humble driver and the windy opened windows with its flowing curtains making a spectacle inside the cabine! I FELT SO FREE as I put my head out to the Toscany sun! I felt so happy for getting lost and being blessed with such sights and sense of adventure!! </span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color:#FF6600;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: x-small;">(happy for feeling lost just as last week I was happy for falling down when playing basketball... I think I'm missing the adventure I didn't live as a child :) ). </span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: x-small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color:#FF6600;"></span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style=" color: rgb(255, 102, 0); "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: x-small;">A lot more of marvellous Toscany is left to see: for example, its lemon fields I was told in the meantime. It's for sure a place to come back to. Who knows San Gimignano?</span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color:#FF6600;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: x-small;"><br /></span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: x-small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style=" color: rgb(255, 102, 0); "></span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color:#FF6600;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: x-small;">- From </span></span><b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color:#99FF99;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: x-small;">PISA</span></span></b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color:#FF6600;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: x-small;"> I only expected a picture. You do get half-marvelled half déjà-vu feeling from being in front of the only monumental area, but I still thought it was worth it for the delight of my touristic journey. </span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color:#FF6600;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: x-small;">But what made Pizza a definitely good bet was "my no such thing as a" coincidence... meeting Sonja in the Jazz Concert by the river. It all started because I wanted some art: I was craving for music or some sort of collective happening even as I saw political demonstrations for the national voting that was about to happen in June. 10 minutes after installing myself in a 6 people bedroom, I left to speak to tourism office and learned what I would do after. I decided to attend that supposedly political.party supporting concert. </span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color:#FF6600;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: x-small;">And as Sonja subtly joined me in the table while we ate the food that Italians often offer with your drink - and repeated!!, the next 7 hours went by flying and the harmonic voice of the old jazz-lady, the lights in the canal and the passing youth in that cosy Pizza night... became a breakfast to say goodbye the next morning. Sonja is an easy-going philosopher from Frankfurt, with whom I found so fast so many things in common! I miss her, I'll soon go back to being in touch.</span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color:#FF6600;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: x-small;"><br /></span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: x-small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color:#FF6600;"></span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color:#FF6600;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: x-small;">- </span></span><b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color:#FF6600;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color:#99FF99;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: x-small;">SIENA</span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: x-small;">, oh Siena!</span></span></b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color:#FF6600;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: x-small;"> Siena was the most surprising place, and although Firenze as explained overwhelms you insistingly, Siena unexpected as it is... strikes you even more. It ended up being my favourite site in Toscany. Its central leaning Piaza del Campo that is showered by sun until late and is rulled by the municipal building... relaxes me; its up and down medieval rocky roads, all leading to this central oracle where horses run in July (a pitty I didn't witness it this time)... inspire me; the city overseeing arch that you reach through one of dozens of "hiden" wonders of architecture dazzles me (and also gives me vertigo); the circular giant vitral, which if I remember well lies among statues in the caves of the central church... makes all my aesthetical senses ring; and the diversity of the City Cathedral made me meditate at the INFINITE ARTS AND CRAFTS OF THOSE WALLS AND CEILING, the wonders of the constant music, the surprising "frescos" of the Ancient Library Room, and the details of the "starled sky", overlooking popes, and handy-crafted wood embelishing the walls... Oh my God, all of that made me dream, sit there for around 2 hours and even sleep over a SUBLIME "perfectness" feeling... that no historical memory of oppression or massive dogma would ever make me overlook.</span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color:#FF6600;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: x-small;"><br /></span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color:#FF6600;"><img src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEit58wF6R0I2h0u6rq-xj7nmcNlaEOQero1cShd2MkhGcEWMqLzHvaLYDoxZeOr0VfFzAHyGy2n3hkeWdSMRfMK2PTKB1X1AVjRxd4VFBwfAhBY33_eiiRK4-e2iM0UfeDlEQFwPyuPVAH4/s200/TuscanySienaPiazzaDelCampoView.jpg" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5688705644386877058" style="display: block; margin-top: 0px; margin-right: auto; margin-bottom: 10px; margin-left: auto; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 200px; height: 132px; " /></span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color:#FF6600;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: x-small;"><br /></span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color:#FF6600;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: x-small;">- </span></span><b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color:#99FF99;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: x-small;">ROME</span></span></b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color:#FF6600;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: x-small;"> was a nice one-day return where I allowed myself just to walk and feel the city. It's grandious, that's for sure, and the cheap accommodation next to central train-station resulted quite handy. So has the roaming on my mobile as I could give my granny a phone-call just next to an image a St. John Paul the II right at the Vatican, as the celebration of his sanctification was displayed in all of St. Peter's Piazza walls. I knew that as in 2007 ('06?) it would make her happy, and I'm far from having given back all she has done for me since I was born. Eating the "Posioned Apple-like ice-cream", buying Limoncelo (great discovery by the way), watching street artists and watching a Russian Culture fantastic show in plain Piazza Navona, being walked "home" by the charming 19 year-old argentinian with whom I ended up throwing the "hope coins" into the touristic Fontana di Trevi... these are some of the memories I won't leave from short 2011 Rome.</span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color:#FF6600;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: x-small;"><br /></span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color:#FF6600;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: x-small;">Again </span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color:#99FF99;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: x-small;">traveling alone</span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: x-small;"> did its tricks: I do live well by myself, I do meet people, I do finally feel healthy "Saudades", I do get to know the spots, I do get adventurous, I do try new stuff like sleeping in shared rooms (from whom I end up meeting no-one as I enter such late night all the time), holding my all-purposes bag between my limbs, I do stutter at the beautiful of nature and man construction... not lacking the possibility to share it with a co-traveller.</span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color:#FF6600;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: x-small;"><br /></span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color:#FF6600;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: x-small;">Don't I have friends and family to travel with? "Porsupuesto!" But indeed my availability to renew myself, stand for hours in front of paintings if I want, change plans, be touched by unexpected details but not notice or just pass by major ex-libris, my openess to get to know the places as I feel like... is incomparable.</span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color:#FF6600;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: x-small;"><br /></span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color:#FF6600;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: x-small;">And then there's the shared travelling. I love it too. There's space for all.</span></span></div><div></div></div></span>Ráhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12728491369182071333noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-691805614896275297.post-52605043773166975492011-12-21T07:36:00.000-08:002011-12-21T14:24:53.929-08:00My Maia, my fate<div style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color:#99FFFF;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color:#99FFFF;"><br /></span></div><div><b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color:#99FFFF;">WITH MAIA AROUND THE WORLD</span></b></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color:#99FFFF;"><br /></span></div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color:#99FFFF;">I'm writing from Reykjavik, in Iceland, right as my dear Maia packs her bag to leave this cold graceful island with me.</span><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color:#99FFFF;">With Maia it's forever like this, ever natural, ever sister-like.</span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color:#99FFFF;">It had been 4 years since we had met and I know you know what I mean when I say that really no time has passed: just stories, knowledge, maturing, relationships, trips, discoveries, experiences... all of that adding up to our closeness and mutual admiration... And which we easily share around subsequent home-cooked meals prepared by her with the most important ingredient: tenderness, love (tal y como con Tita - "Como agua para chocolate").</span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color:#99FFFF;"><br /></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color:#99FFFF;">MAIA is hence not part of this blog's memory, but she for sure deserves a significant paragraph of this bible of trip registers. This "Mexican-looking" ;) small girl from the Basc Country is the best result of all my so said "lonely" trips I've been doing since I was 15 years old.</span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color:#99FFFF;">Maia and I happened something like my last night in long-gone Paris, back when "la grand canicule" (? - as she just put it) happened: the warmest summer, 2003.</span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color:#99FFFF;">Hours of night talk resulted in a timeless spaceless friendship, that has joined us in Lisbon, Donosti/San Sebastian, Ondarroa, Helsinki and now Reikjavik.</span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color:#99FFFF;">Maia is the example for me of an accomplished thinker, still living to the fullest ¡t her life, femininity and artistry, always going beyond the surface of peoples and their "arts", always finding the smallest reason to laugh, always strong-willed and defending justice; traveling, studying and singing her way through life in spite of all the learnings that she simply wouldn't let bitter her, not ever!</span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color:#99FFFF;">Maia, here's one of our hugs!</span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color:#99FFFF;"><br /></span></div><div><b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color:#99FFFF;">WORK-LIFE BALANCE</span></b></div><div><b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color:#99FFFF;"><br /></span></b></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color:#99FFFF;">Can't believe it's been more than one year since I last shared thoughts here. No doubt about it: it reflects the speed in which I've been living. Well the new year's resolution, I've been anticipating it for 2 months now - it's quite hard on me as it counters my forever pattern: running from "home" by over-scheduling, being a workaholic, resting on what I'm successful at and not leaving space for resting or simply "being"... </span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color:#99FFFF;">I share it here as this year I decided I need to make it public: something needs to change and I'm not sure I'll be able to inforce it on my own. Year after year I reach the "too tired", the "too far from living, from my health, from sleep, from boyfriend, from friends".... And being in love, loving tremendously what I do at Jason... can't be and excuse. It's in me.</span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color:#99FFFF;">That having been said, 2012, even with rising responsibility, must be the WORK-LIFE BALANCE finding year.</span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color:#99FFFF;"><br /></span></div><div><b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color:#99FFFF;">REYKJAVIK AND THE CHRISTMAS FEELING</span></b></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color:#99FFFF;"><br /></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color:#99FFFF;">Reykjavik was short in time and full in sharing. It is </span><span class="Apple-style-span"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color:#99FFFF;">little and, all covered in white, what astonished me the most is the short time of light in Winter, the rain-dear soup in round opened bread at "Svarta... Caffee", the hot hot tubs, the Blue Lagoon, the dried lava that changed the landscape, how easy you are in -3 degrees if only you wear the proper clothes; the permanent whiteness of everything snow touches, and the home-like cafeterias where Iceland proudly exhibits the happiness and good life-quality of its people.</span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color:#99FFFF;">Even more: the Christmas feeling expressed in lights and decoration which miss no window, no building, no bridge, no airplane.</span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color:#99FFFF;">I now understand when Johan says he gets no Christmas feeling in Lisbon: truthfully the female chorus singing in the street while the smoke from street-cooked sweets embraces you and red christmas lights create the scenario, only further completed by lightly falling snow while you're in your cosy clothes... that's indeed a Christmas setting.</span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color:#99FFFF;"><br /></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color:#99FFFF;"><br /></span></div><div><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 204px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgLBJdVEwHdzTDANzCnoOS_o0ZnwOi34YBeX-Dg8GM_2JnOmbVWVdex9BFFPzCOZEaBZPUF-Ta9IBVbhbFRCvMew3e6tmNdKq7yTH7XHJ5HOWoaxfF6APiiEN4vm4mHfudvyQSbBDSEg7Sc/s320/iceland5.jpg" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5688703294006292434" /><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color:#99FFFF;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color:#99FFFF;">The most ZEN moment(s)?... For sure bathing in 40 degrees celsius waters in external spa pools while it snows and winds in your shy uncovered head, definitely the mysterious look of the hot smoking water while you indulge in the pleasure and relaxation of feeling no body weight and no cold against the open sky in plain ICEland.</span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color:#99FFFF;">Curious findings about this place?... So much natality!; in an Island bigger than Great Britain live 300.000 people; the surnames here are substituted by the father's name to which they add "son" or "daughter"; they're totally not environmentally-conscious: they waste energy, they waste water, they have no consciousness of the limitedness of the resources: privileges (and blindness) of who has the blessing of having enough to waste.</span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color:#99FFFF;"><br /></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color:#99FFFF;">Taking it easy... Next to see upon return: well geysers, volcanos, auroras borealis... All that I had managed not to expect too much but still had the illusion of being in the presence of. It definitelly suited us better as it was: calm for me, Maia and Gunnar.</span></div>Ráhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12728491369182071333noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-691805614896275297.post-4473449260095167352010-12-06T14:40:00.000-08:002010-12-07T07:47:27.900-08:00Let go. Let God.<span style="color:#ffcc00;"></span><br /><span style="color:#99ff99;">A while has gone since my visit to India (Sept. 18th to Oct. 2nd + 3 days in London).<br />With a clear conscience in my head that I haven't exactly met the goals I dared to publicize here beforehand, I prefer to report my travel for itself and not by comparison to expectations.<br />It's a good thing to let go of frameworks when they no longer fit your reality or your purposes; on the contrary, 'pre-concepts' may make you linger in a sense of frustration if you hang on to them for too long.<br /><br />Well, that's probably one of the biggest learnings from my second visit to The Incredible:<br /><strong>Accept what comes. </strong><br />Living the most out of an experience doesn't necessarily have to mean over-scheduling, running from one place to the other, meeting the most people or visiting the most places, finding a deep significance in everything, or even feeling that your deeper purpose is met and put into practice at every minute of the trip you planned with so much love and money.<br /><strong>Let go. Let God.</strong><br />As long as you are open to the signs and available to act upon them, what comes is exactly what you need the most at that moment.<br /><br />Well, there were many plans for my trip.<br />But my biggest mission was to be with my mentor. As my mentor needed me by her bed, reading to her or just giving medication, as I wanted to visit her in the hospital, as her needs and my need just for her presence were what mattered the most ; as she was operated while I was there ; my stay happened around her operation and recovery.<br /><br />I did have the chance to travel, to do my yoga retreat, but I knew my priorities. I did have the chance to travel around town at least...<br />But two attempts were enough to realize that <strong>I am no longer the brave all-resisting Raquel from 1,5 year ago</strong>. I didn't bear the feeling of chaos, pollution, noise, complication, negotiation, cheating, being lost in slums, being stuck in traffic...<br />I didn't bear them psychologically or physically. I didn't bear nor did I want to bear. I literally rejected all the urban surroundings that I lived with for almost a year before.<br />Some aspects may have contributed for it: I was in an emotional state which was not as stable + My mind knew I was there temporarily, as a tourist, so it didn't find the need to actually adapt, to find excuses or bright sides to crude realities + I didn't have companions there, friends as before + I got there with a cold caught at the airplane that evolved into some sort of growing respiratory allergy.<br /><br /><strong>What was my "Indian experience" this time then?</strong><br />I read quite a lot, I rested more then ever, I slept whenever my body asked me, I was inspired by my Mentor even as She slept, I went deeper into Indian culture (as in a 2nd time I could ask questions after having stoped to think from afar), I lived life with them again, ever closer to my Indian family...<br />As my soul made me relax rather than go out, stay in rather then adventure, delay rather then try it out... As it insisted on having me just "be" and chill... After struggling, feeling like I was wasting such an expensive trip and thinking of the ridiculous of not visiting new places, living new experiences... After struggling, I finally let go: if that's what I was wanting, that's what was meant then.<br />And then I realized for how long I hadn't allowed myself that: that rest, that naturality, that spontaneous happening, that feeling of home...<br />And living that was more precious than having added more landscapes, meditations our colourful pictures to my portfolio.<br /><br /><strong>That probably says it all: I TOOK NO PICTURES but of the home, to remember it. That's the house that I have ever felt more at home in.</strong><br /><br />Mr. U is no longer (here) and I missed him there. Sivnandan is a light in the house, the new-born.<br />I did find me a new family, and the feeling of blessing that both me and Mrs. U feel for having met and having each other overcomes any connection.<br /><br />I feel like in a movie or a book when I say it, but it's a fact: <strong>I found my mentor, my inspiration in life. She inspires me even as she sleeps. Her simple presence fills me with joy and sense of priviledge and learning.</strong><br /><br />Having said that, of course I'll return. And again, "every now and then" won't do it. Hopefully in less than 2 years. What's money or 2 weeks of vacation to feel at home?*<br /><br /><em>* A post-scriptum is imperative though: after this "reality-check", I understood that while that corner of Palace Road is an island of "home-feeling", Bangalore and India are not. This time I reinforced my certainty that I wouldn't chose to live there again. That I prefer to visit, go to help, go to travel, go to fill my heart up, go to be challenged, disturbed, marvelled, what-so-EVER - NOT to live.</em></span><br /><em><span style="color:#99ff99;">* P.S. 2 - In the end I went to London to be with my Mariana. Fast and lazy again, but great to reconnect to my sister, more and more sister. </span></em>Ráhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12728491369182071333noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-691805614896275297.post-90315531487507282322010-09-14T16:37:00.000-07:002010-09-14T16:52:45.293-07:00Count-down for yet another Indian experience<span class="Apple-style-span" >Well, I decided to do a short post here because again I'm in count-down to visit India.</span><div><span class="Apple-style-span" >I am actually visiting my mentor.</span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" >This trip makes sense to me in so many ways in this moment of my life, and the only reason I am doing the half-public exercise of writing down my expectations is so I can cross-check them with the outcomes, which I believe will as usual overcome those.</span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" ><br /></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" >Also because the expectations are realistic, and that's probably why I dare to state them... Or aren't they: am I being optimistic even in my realism?</span></div><div><ol><li><span class="Apple-style-span" >Be with my mentor, really be with her, listen to her wisdom, be there for what she needs, share our thoughts on philosophy, spirituality, sociology and "emotionality";</span></li><li><span class="Apple-style-span" >Be with myself and rediscover the inner peace that that place once instigated in me;</span></li><li><span class="Apple-style-span" >Find strength, self-preservation strategies and compromises with myself in order to keep the balance in this moment of my life;</span></li><li><span class="Apple-style-span" >Work on an exciting idea that I had in August 4th, 2010;</span></li><li><span class="Apple-style-span" >Try again some yoga hoping that the habit sticks to me;</span></li><li><span class="Apple-style-span" >Do Isha's Bhava Spandana retreat, another if this one is not possible and/or hopefully some travelling;</span></li><li><span class="Apple-style-span" >Rediscovering Bangalore with the Indian friends that stayed back;</span></li><li><span class="Apple-style-span" >Meet the new member in Ubhayaker Bijur family;</span></li><li><span class="Apple-style-span" >Have the time to actually get to know Archisman;</span></li><li><span class="Apple-style-span" >Do some reading and some diary writing, and hopefuly some reporting here in the blog too.</span></li></ol></div>Ráhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12728491369182071333noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-691805614896275297.post-15945258160261114122010-09-14T16:28:00.000-07:002010-09-14T16:54:28.157-07:00Cute Girl Has a Catchy Dance<object width="640" height="385"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/lK7IzfLmyco?fs=1&hl=en_US"><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"><param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always"><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/lK7IzfLmyco?fs=1&hl=en_US" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true" width="640" height="385"></embed></object><div><br /></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" >Guess who that one reminds me of? If only my parents read my blog... :P Do you?</span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" ><br /></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" >The "cute girl": A true happy free soul influencer!</span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" >Apparently the story goes that they taught the little girl that dance, then she went to dance it having no idea that the others would join her... but that changed nothing: she kept happily doing her thing... and the clip came out.</span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" ><br /></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" >Guys, let's all go for it!!!</span></div>Ráhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12728491369182071333noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-691805614896275297.post-636607358925374132010-08-01T14:21:00.000-07:002010-08-01T15:54:51.159-07:00I met Sweden in Sevilla<div><br /></div><div>SWEDEN</div>Well I started Summer in Sweden and for the first 2 days I actually thought that, not only Could I live there, as I Wanted to.<div>So much perfectness!... - naturally speaking and civilization-wise...</div><div>Everything is thought for you which makes it easier to enjoy life. </div><div>Even if you do it with your own hands - be it painting the house or fixing the fence (which is their custom), the system, the tools, the common knowledge... is ready for that too.</div><div>Life-quality is incomparable to any I have witnessed before: I mentioned here before the freshness of the water and the air... But then there's the fact that you ride a bike to and from work, that you arrive at 4 or 5 pm from your job, do no unpaid extra-hours, still manage to have a full life outside work; that the simplest and cheapest supermarket is to the level of a gourmet here in Portugal, that they have the habit of eating early dinner and still go for [what we call here] "hygienic walk" along never ending beautiful -tree-paths and lakes... Furthermore, every car trip seems like a succession of paintings as the roads are paths which were stolen from forests.</div><div><br /></div><div>... But then the weekend went by and the so common rain came to bless the Summer... and then for a moment it stopped feeling like vacation. Can you believe in some places in Sweden they get something like 3 weeks of sun per year?</div><div>I enjoyed getting to know Johan's family better, trying to understand Chess better... Taking it easy and resting...</div><div>And I can't forget the yet again amazing Sauna and Lake experience in Tolg with John's family... And this time my first experience of taking a bath in a peer, and taking the soap out of me in pure night, in cold lake water, to the light of stars and a set 1 am sun. UAU!</div><div>I loved watching a Speedway contest in Vetlanda. Apparently that small city where Anna, Olle, Karin and Mikael live has one of the World top teams in this sport. </div><div>It was fun Bowling with the family, other family get-togethers, going to that Island with Johan (what was the name again?), watching them cook candy, watching Granpa dance in National Day celebrations, trying to fish with Kent...</div><div>But we did want some better weather for more barbequeing, more fishing, more lake-bathing, more biking, more walking-around, more country-side activities...</div><img src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjmQrlFZnIDuV0cmpTHU8wdjxGBCeJ9Z33m1BuCdNFBp296uH5Ke26-QMPou-7G0lX8zHiR_y-enecUMghu1EIveMijCnwJtoXiYiIJ245KVLLbQPWTGeyJq2kF0MTcC45-dEFhxPhdxLGr/s200/SOL" style="float:right; margin:0 0 10px 10px;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 162px; height: 172px;" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5500567510081148514" /><div><br /></div><div>So in the end, yes, I'd like to try living in Sweden because it is becoming such a big reference for me in what regards life-quality, in anything that doesn't depend from "Saint Peter".</div><div>Although I have to confess I know I would struggle with the little Sun and the certain rain... But I would especially miss the sun - I feel more and more my connection to it, my dependence of it.</div><div>THE SUN IS WHAT I HAVE CLOSEST TO THE FIGURE OF A GOD</div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div><img src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj-5AKkJpqlGjLoieM3xAd6CXbUoByearkkt8pCRLDiiaV83leEt6n1y3CD78imu9r-uZJ54EO6SKfDGWcC10ITdUar_KZN9MApQaFHVON0f5dVP2PIg2fep8eV0N4Jfq6BaMp7vNNe3QN_/s200/P1010088.JPG" style="float:left; margin:0 10px 10px 0;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 150px; height: 200px;" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5500563885617971314" /></div><div><b>SEVILLA</b></div><div>Then in July, the chance came to go back to Sevillha, where me and Johan met exactly 5 years ago (we disagree on whether it was the 31st of July night or the 1st of August 2005 morning that we met - the last is my version). There the Sun is definitely not missing.</div><div>The door in this picture used to be the entrance to Don Quijote, the Spanish school that is ultimately responsible for us being together. Yes, 'coz it was them who put us in the same apartment... Well and the rest is just details... :P</div><div>Anyway, Marta and Bruno were spending their sabbatical moth there doing Flamenco training, and it was a great opportunity to re-visit that city full of salero... </div><div><br /></div><div>We loved it, Johan could almost picture himself living there... But with so much heat (we think it reached 50 dregrees during the day!!)... and no beach... Ufff! And how do you even have the energy to move around in such a warm environment? Plus there's no horizon as I'm getting used to again... : the Atlantic Ocean... And it's VERY touristic. </div><div>In the end, it's a nice town to visit every couple of years - exactly - as a tourist. It has a great spirit, it breathes Flamenco which I like more and more - the guitar, the singing, the dancing... there's something really transeunic about it... I realized this time (watching a breathtaking performance in Casa de la Memoria) that it probably is because it is so intense and that the music so often resembles the ORIGINAL SOUND, the tantric, the budhist, the hinduist "AUM" - or "OM", as trend tends to call it.</div><div>Of course it carries me to a level of vibration that is unexplainable...</div><div>But again: nothing to repeat too much so that it doesn't lose the uniqueness I still feel when I experience Flamenco.</div><div>Ready for more travelling? Yes! Preparing the next one. :)</div>Ráhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12728491369182071333noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-691805614896275297.post-19865863915420495352010-02-15T16:55:00.000-08:002010-02-16T17:25:41.004-08:00Alentejo_Travelling my own Country<span style="color:#cc9933;"></span><br /><span style="color:#cc9933;">Ir para fora cá dentro.</span><br /><span style="color:#cc9933;">That's how the Portuguese expression goes for when you travel inside your own country. And if my memory recalls well that became an idiomatic expression after a national tourism TV add some 10 years ago (or so I think - - how long does it statistically take to integrate a slogan in a language?).</span><br /><br /><span style="color:#cc9933;">PORTUGAL. My country. And exactly the one I learned to appreciate the lesser. I am ashamed of that, of not taking interest for it, of always looking at the less brighter side when it comes to Portugal:</span><br /><span style="color:#cc9933;">- Melancholic; - Nostalgic; - Pessimistic ... and many inevitably negative "-ic-ending" words. </span><br /><span style="color:#cc9933;">Ashamed of always looking at it exactly in the way I criticize "the Portuguese" for.</span><br /><span style="color:#cc9933;"></span><br /><span style="color:#cc9933;">Well I feel I'm for the first time really willing to know the country I've always felt like mine only in one third - along with CAPE VERDE and BRAZIL. </span><br /><span style="color:#cc9933;">This is after having come from India (in which I found so many worse - not even comparable - conditions)... And after that Johan came. And now I have a Swede to introduce my large home to, great loving company for tourism!</span><br /><span style="color:#cc9933;"></span><br /><span style="color:#cc9933;">So this time we went to High Alentejo, interior Portugal.</span><br /><span style="color:#cc9933;">Our base was Portel, a small village in the district of Évora, which is litteraly the centre of a star when it comes to road access.</span><br /><span style="color:#cc9933;">This is a quiet place where people stare at you (and still keep looking when you've given in and taken your eyes away... :) ) 'coz everyone knows each other and you're not from there. And they're curious: that's simply it. A simple place.</span><br /><span style="color:#cc9933;">It is amazingly silent all day long, hardly any cars, small white-painted houses ('coz the sun heat is so strong in the summer), real darkness at night; cows, sheeps, goats... just near by; breakfast with home-made cookies . . . And here cold is cold, homes have an inheritance of hunting prizes hanging form the walls, bread is "alentejano" and comes in special colourful coton bags, and you greet everyone in the street. A van passes by in the morning issuing the sound of folk music and offering home delivery of bathrobs, pijamas and other housewear. Somewhere in the village pigs scream, chickens run, horses grass (so silent it is that you can feel Portel's heart-beat if you simply keep quiet). Plus the view from the castle is amazing, a mixture of plain greens, and you almost feel the smell of olives and grapes.</span><br /><span style="color:#cc9933;"></span><br /><span style="color:#cc9933;">We ate well and fat, and in the meantime we visited the biggest artificial lake in Europe - Alqueva Dam, ate at Amieira Marina, drove to Reguengos de Monsaraz hoping to buy wine only to find a beautiful modern-shaped church, and enjoyed a great wintery sunny day where the sun insisted on touching the waters beautifully. </span><br /><span style="color:#cc9933;">On Sunday, Valentine's Day, time for the ditrict capital: Évora. The place for lunch was tough to find but in the end "Almedina" surprised us with a cosy family environment. We had time for a stop at Arraiolos as the car this weekend seemed to drive itself while I didn't dare or felt like harming the calmness with any speed higher than 80Km/h. </span><br /><span style="color:#cc9933;">We liked the pace in Évora and the fact that the centre of the city is inside ancient walls: it makes finding your ways a bit of an adventure, and being inside the walls have something of mysterious and tale-like. We finally bought the so-expected Alentejano wine, and after long walks, some sight-seing and visiting Roman Temple at dawn, we drove back to Lisbon with a feeling of calm, rest and peaceful-mindedness.</span><br /><span style="color:#cc9933;"></span><br /><span style="color:#cc9933;">Johan ended the day pleasantly surprising me with great spontaneous generosity when we met our building's night guard (a man from Cape Verde who has switched nights for days for 10 years now) and offered him one of the bottles we had brought from Alentejo. A nice man of few words, Mr. Zé Manel.</span>Ráhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12728491369182071333noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-691805614896275297.post-83930762908570009922010-01-15T15:06:00.000-08:002010-01-15T16:04:41.567-08:00LONDON - Biggest Party on Earth<i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color:#CC66CC;"><div><br /></div>D</span></i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color:#CC66CC;"> LONDON EXPERIENCE</span><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color:#CC66CC;"><br /></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color:#CC66CC;">Life keeps treating me well.</span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color:#CC66CC;">I travelled earlier than I thought I would again, and to a place that hadn't seen me since adolescence.</span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color:#CC66CC;">Last time I was in London I was around 16 years old. 10 years later I remembered King's Cross Station, next to which I lived for 2 weeks, Millennium Bridge next to which I studied English, the view of Trafalgar Square from the National Gallery, the flowers in Notting Hill's Portobello Market, Mind the Gap and not much else.</span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color:#CC66CC;">From 1995 I remembered even lesser: there was the driving on the right hand-side, Hard-Rock Cafe and its expensive branded black sweat-shirt that I wore for a whole year after that, my long showers my trip companions complained of, Harrod's and my aunt saying to Jimmy: "(No, don't come in) - I'm not </span><i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color:#CC66CC;">apropriated</span></i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color:#CC66CC;">". :D</span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color:#CC66CC;"><br /></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color:#CC66CC;">The turn of a decade was something else. I saw it with Raquel eyes and taken by the sweetest hand, and the warmest hug.</span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color:#CC66CC;">MARIANA. My forever trip companion, my forever big sis'.</span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color:#CC66CC;">Mariana is a Brazilian Londoner whom another one of those big non-coincidences brought to me in India.</span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color:#CC66CC;">We lived heaven and hell in that sub-continent of which I miss only some few people, some natural beauties, some exotic tastes and some laid-back experiences... and cherish the overall experience of.</span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color:#CC66CC;"><br /></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color:#CC66CC;">In LONDON it was all about enjoying.</span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color:#CC66CC;">I left from a week stay there with the clear feeling that that's THE PLACE WHERE YOU CAN BE WHATEVER YOU WANT TO BE.</span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color:#CC66CC;">The closest I experienced of that (but for sure far away and in a fully different perspective) was Thailand: Bangkok... and the marvelous Islands - place of wonders, place to get lost if that's what you're looking for...</span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color:#CC66CC;"><br /></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color:#CC66CC;">'Nyway...</span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color:#CC66CC;">Mariana took me in a journey through not only some ex-libris of that gigantic glamorous organized city... but also through some untold secrets only true Londoners can share.</span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color:#CC66CC;"><br /></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color:#CC66CC;">What I loved the most was for sure the diversity of people, the true melting pot London is, the extremes in looks and way of living that people can allow themselves to express there with no awkwardness feeling. That city has a place for all sorts and looks down on no one - but that's because you almost have it hard to find locals, British people - so much is the colourfulness!</span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color:#CC66CC;"><br /></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color:#CC66CC;">In this context I have to mention Camden Town and its weekend fair, experience with which Mariana gifted the beggining of our journey together in Her Majesty's kingdom capital.</span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color:#CC66CC;">That place sells anything you may imagine and gets together punks, fifty's, rastas, posh people, brazilian "cochinhas", S&M material, motor-bike seats, piercings, lights, statues and drums..........all about fashion ... what results is an amazing experience to your senses in an authentic journey through times and options that takes place inside ancient horse stables.</span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color:#CC66CC;"><br /></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color:#CC66CC;">Then there was "the Pub Culture" as Mariana would put it after an Indian comment.</span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color:#CC66CC;">I'm not much of a "go out for a drink" sort of girl, hence pubs apparently shouldn't be the place for me. Nevertheless, under Mariana's arm, I was guided through cozy, historical, fish & chips serving, old-school, out of the rain, beer producing, British only, dancing crazy, standing in circle, no non-alcohol beverages, checking out, with fireplace, nice . . . English PUBS which I really ended up enjoying.</span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color:#CC66CC;"><br /></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color:#CC66CC;">Walking downtown through luxuriant streets, pin-pointing the tourist spots, was only bettered as an England experience by one full day of rain when we not anymore cared about how soaked we were and simply walked around with our feet and shoes flooded. So much fun!</span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color:#CC66CC;"><br /></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color:#CC66CC;">Seeing a musical from 30 meters up far from the scene and adoring it. Finding a jazz concert hidden behind a mysterious door. Eating barbequed burgers in -1 degrees Celsius to come in to a bar where almost all had their Mac Book Pro, where DJ's came an hour later to play Chill-House and a door opened at 8pm to give way to another secret: an early night electronic disco. There I danced my brains out with hardly anyone on the dance floor just because I felt like it and no-one really cared. At 12h30 me and Mariana had finished my last night with a deserved Indian meal - one of the countable cultural features that we are really fond of in the country that was our home for almost a year.</span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color:#CC66CC;"><br /></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color:#CC66CC;">But the perfect experience was that of seeing one of the greatest fireworks on earth from just across the river, right in front of London Eye. "The biggest House party on Earth" (as in House music) was well worth the 4 and a half hour wait freezing in happiness, dance, friendship and expectation.</span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color:#CC66CC;">I just loved it. Check this out.</span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color:#CC66CC;">Mariana, luv u!!!!</span></div><div><br /></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style=" white-space: pre; font-family:Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;font-size:10px;"><object width="425" height="344"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/-wjzdZ6cV-Q&hl=en_US&fs=1&"><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"><param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always"><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/-wjzdZ6cV-Q&hl=en_US&fs=1&" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true" width="425" height="344"></embed></object></span></div>Ráhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12728491369182071333noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-691805614896275297.post-29681455983778511862009-08-01T08:39:00.000-07:002009-08-01T08:42:13.573-07:00You shall not say "it ain't possible"<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 10px; white-space: pre; "><object width="425" height="344"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/LnLVRQCjh8c&hl=en&fs=1&"></param><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"></param><param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always"></param><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/LnLVRQCjh8c&hl=en&fs=1&" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true" width="425" height="344"></embed></object></span>Ráhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12728491369182071333noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-691805614896275297.post-37341087252503701982009-07-15T08:58:00.000-07:002009-07-15T11:48:08.210-07:00About the purposefulness of Life<p><span style="color:#ff9900;">This means to be as much of a thesis as a declaration of my feeling of me.</span></p><p><span style="color:#ff9900;">I FEEL THAT LIFE IS PURPOSEFUL, THAT IN NO WAY COULD IT BE BETTER EVER, THAT IT IS ALWAYS AS IT HAS TO BE IN THAT PRECISE MOMENT OF YOUR TIME AND SPACE.</span></p><p><span style="color:#ff9900;">By purposeful I mean not that there's an end waiting and calling from a far away lost future, that finding that out and the means to reach it is what we should pursue; but other that we should be faithful in the Now, in the relevance of this moment for our Path - even if we're not sure where It is leading us or even where we would like It to take us.</span></p><p><span style="color:#ff9900;">I feel and know that Life is purposeful <em>now</em>, that there's no such thing as a coincidence, and I say this not only because of my readings which do help me to keep the spirit and most of all find the right words for it (e.g.: <em>Celestine Prophecy</em> by James Redfield and <em>The Power of Now</em> by Eckhart Tolle here mentioned before), but mostly because I´VE BEEN HAVING THIS UNEXPLAINABLE BUT HIGHLY MOTIVATING FEELING OF SINCHRONICITY FOR MANY YEARS NOW.</span></p><p><span style="color:#ff9900;">Life has been proving to me time after time that things don't happen by some random reason, your life and mine and the world aren't rulled by change but by a superior collective and inter (actually: "inner")-connected matrix and conscience that makes every minute meaningful and every decision determinant.</span></p><p><span style="color:#ff9900;">In my long arguments about this over the years, the most common OBJECTION I hear is that what I am saying is that I believe in destiny, "right"? So what space does that leave for free-will, I am asked.</span></p><p><span style="color:#ff9900;">The other one was how could I then explain so much disgrace in the world if there is actually this wheel of major purpose underlying all that is done of this place we share with all nature.</span></p><p><span style="color:#ff9900;">Well, I must say the first point was a problem to me for a while when I thought that non-coincidence might not be reconcilable with the denial of a full predestination, a master-plan designated for you irrespective of your power of will or conscience, basically a decision prior to your own acts and mental dispositions covering your whole existence - I don't believe in that. </span></p><ul><li><span style="color:#ff9900;">... then the word "believe" comes in. This word seems to allow doubt in too as it leaves space for factual proving of the opposite... if only research could ever collect spiritual data! (BELIEF IS WHAT KEEPS MANY GOING SO IT MAY BE A BLISS AS IT MAY BE AN IGNORANCE-VEIL.) Dogmas and book-based religions often tried to turn faith matters into sets of rules for <em>followers</em>: the only thing they managed was to empty the creeds of its meaningful power of making people reach and think beyond their own ego's. Now they <em>promote</em> ego's, leading to catastrophic fanatic disconnected ways of being in the world, to people living in fear and spreading monstruous feelings.</span></li></ul><p><span style="color:#ff9900;">It was difficult to keep my thesis also when I still labelled happenings as good and bad seen from a micro perspective and thus found no possible bigger reason for so many records of human suffer in history. I am not saying I have it all sorted out, say the least that massive massacres and other unforgivable human-planned events or natural catastrophes were justified or are now justifiable but YES that I believe there is a macro-structure, a macro-world evolution that somehow could use those "tortuous lines" to write its story, teach its lessons, lead its way.</span></p><p><span style="color:#ff9900;">But there are 2 certainties I have now: </span></p><p><span style="color:#ff9900;">- 1 is that SINCHRONICITY (OR NON-COINCIDENCE) IS A MATTER BEYOND OUR CONCEPTUAL MIND-FRAMES OF TIME AND SPACE <span style="font-size:85%;">(Katherine helped me solve this cross-road I was at, thanks so much for dissolving the conceptual knot, Kat)</span>, this "conspiracy" works way beyond the limited variables we use to measure and catalogue our rational experience, it's another sort of matrix (the unexplicable connectedness that makes you find your soul-mate, "randomly" meet just the person you needed or get a phone-call from the person that had just crossed your mind). This matrix links all existence into one big purposeful evolution & connection-oriented world, and it influences small scale events as the ones described as it determines the meaningful ways in which each person's life evolves and the way they link to one another in highly relevant "productive" ways. WE'RE ALL A CONTRIBUTING PART OF THIS COLLECTIVE CONSCIENCE THAT HAS BEEN EVOLVING WITH THE WORLD, that's just for a start how relevant each one of us is. </span></p><p><span style="color:#ff9900;">- THE OTHER CERTAINTY I HAVE IS OF THE TRUTH OF THIS, IT'S AN INNER POSITIVENESS, AN INSIGHT I FEEL OF THE TRUTH, so you can say it's a <em>mere</em> belief but I have just about all the proofs in my daily life of this that I used to call "my star"... And for the sake of this testemony and my happy life, I need to go no further.</span></p><p><span style="color:#ff9900;">You may be asking: but what do you gain from that? what does that add to your life? why are you even mentioning that? "i don't feel that. i have no idea. actually, i don't even care."</span></p><p><span style="color:#ff9900;">What all this makes to me is to believe profoundly in THE POWER OF NOW, OF THIS NARROW YET FULL OF POTENTIAL PLACE WHERE THE COUNTABLE AND THE UNCONTABLE VARIABLES REUNITE IN YOUR HANDS. It makes me be aware of signs, of non-coincidences, of messages hiden in that much more subtle realm that lies between the lines of the happenings in my days.</span></p><p><span style="color:#ff9900;">It makes me feel joyful and trustfull and CONFIDENT THAT I AM WHERE I HAVE TO BE - and not because I aim <em>there</em>, hereby living with an anxious heart on the future, on that expectation, suffering with antecipation; or otherwise hanging to the past, re-living situations that are impossible to change and grieving in non-action and self-pity or self-punishment or acusation.</span></p><p><span style="color:#ff9900;">It makes me active, alert and trustful in me and all humans, all of us who have potential to go beyond our conditioning, our labelling and our collectively repeated behaviours - to reach out to a higher consciousness of ourselves and all that of living and non-living that surrounds us.</span></p><p><span style="color:#ff9900;">And it makes me feel no longer in fight inside. I feel peacened, I feel no fear as to what may come as I am sure of its relevance in my way. Most of the times I do actually manage to live my words and not worry, just be happy. And I do actually get glimpses of sublime moments as I purposedly stop or at least manage to slow down the pace of my mind (our mind often just produces rubish that leads to no positive attitude or disposition but to time-bound hanging to something other then your present reality). THESE MOMENTS OF CONNECTEDNESS (medidative states some currents would call it) ARE SOME OF THE MOST BEAUTIFUL YOU CAN GET IN LIFE: THAT'S WHEN YOU'RE MOST CONSCIOUS AND YOU CAN DETECT AND PRODUCE TRUE BEAUTY.</span></p><p><span style="color:#ff9900;">Am I talking about enlightenment? An approach to it <em>maybe</em> at this level that is realizable by any human being. I speak of nothing extraordinary, but only of withdrawing yourself from the viscious cycles of thought, prejudice and unconscious behaviours and live your presence, live and indulge in your SELF.</span></p><p><span style="color:#ff9900;">You'll never be any more fuller in your true self than you are right now, so leave it not for later - when maybe on an outer level you'll be richer or may have accumulated some more of someTHING: wealth, body fitness, belongings, clothes, job position, social status, you name it - but you'll be no more full inside. You're just about everything you may wish for on a spiritual level already: just access that inside you and clean yourself from outerly-build worries, demands, pressures, release yourself from the dependency on pain and the "stories" upon which you insist on creating your identity. LIVE FULLY. It's really your choice.</span></p><p><span style="color:#ff9900;">What does this conscience make me? I FEEL GRATEFUL EVERY SINGLE DAY OF MY LIFE.</span></p>Ráhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12728491369182071333noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-691805614896275297.post-8011557888086972752009-07-03T13:27:00.001-07:002010-02-16T17:26:29.952-08:00Swedish colours of my Happiness<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjrqkLm5ZqQI0nqArCVn3KUwRRJrM_g-pSHJBwJ9CFlqLMZ6p04T5OAG3XfQ5mQ4BoMATXM4YmWxcQl4UQJKr6nB9Swm8heoxpwrw4m6w6fHSjEvVotEnQ63dXRvF7nVRmdE6tDCSOKcoL1/s1600-h/P1011419.JPG"><img style="WIDTH: 150px; HEIGHT: 200px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5355453919000661906" border="0" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjrqkLm5ZqQI0nqArCVn3KUwRRJrM_g-pSHJBwJ9CFlqLMZ6p04T5OAG3XfQ5mQ4BoMATXM4YmWxcQl4UQJKr6nB9Swm8heoxpwrw4m6w6fHSjEvVotEnQ63dXRvF7nVRmdE6tDCSOKcoL1/s200/P1011419.JPG" /></a> <a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgVZ2hfLfaegcCZQqOAY4KY3mIukl5PWNVB4KfY8VTFIKKl_IMCsD02ghPCKZ9FUFcgPU5jgUK0l44dEzhzZrHL8e18m8GjxuzfnGOat-n1G6ObR3jIr6EqLadcLYvX2VF_axxXobYE0K6i/s1600-h/P1011333.JPG"><img style="WIDTH: 150px; HEIGHT: 200px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5355453442834041922" border="0" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgVZ2hfLfaegcCZQqOAY4KY3mIukl5PWNVB4KfY8VTFIKKl_IMCsD02ghPCKZ9FUFcgPU5jgUK0l44dEzhzZrHL8e18m8GjxuzfnGOat-n1G6ObR3jIr6EqLadcLYvX2VF_axxXobYE0K6i/s200/P1011333.JPG" /></a> <a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhCKrTP1PRcgYnEfnkqMzDm4KTNauED6fM0knUivm2y4RaN1OUw7c8rr656BuuyPXQiXPFXAp8VlAGNEKmBJi56q7aIMkDXDo6S2Vl_QDue_BL3VsZNoxi5SFRUqchp7FJLjUsg3yPKNt2E/s1600-h/P1011320.JPG"><img style="WIDTH: 200px; HEIGHT: 150px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5355453439003054226" border="0" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhCKrTP1PRcgYnEfnkqMzDm4KTNauED6fM0knUivm2y4RaN1OUw7c8rr656BuuyPXQiXPFXAp8VlAGNEKmBJi56q7aIMkDXDo6S2Vl_QDue_BL3VsZNoxi5SFRUqchp7FJLjUsg3yPKNt2E/s200/P1011320.JPG" /></a><br /><div><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgQhf0vZYJQ0hc4DiO9QYz9TUp3EJ2c1inAyUIEJ4t7ylnRwKkbpsyot-zzDD6gTkt_h54rq7T1JADdcaZmQYt1P_Zu0-5v93Z0hKbMn_shSfdb8XiMgN5SZrj-o3ABfOMy_pqv-IkKFGvv/s1600-h/P1011392.JPG"><img style="WIDTH: 200px; HEIGHT: 150px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5355453912001375618" border="0" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgQhf0vZYJQ0hc4DiO9QYz9TUp3EJ2c1inAyUIEJ4t7ylnRwKkbpsyot-zzDD6gTkt_h54rq7T1JADdcaZmQYt1P_Zu0-5v93Z0hKbMn_shSfdb8XiMgN5SZrj-o3ABfOMy_pqv-IkKFGvv/s200/P1011392.JPG" /></a> <a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiWjM2qvBI4dmsdZzIZCfxriYvKIeHHrCDKQdatKgfwscxrDt5VTjn6WOslyJulcbhig1KFkTeCfErzRcTpmQ2F4qFfiZIC-JuRphZl1REwuxTZqbAzeG2gfph-FW5EQfkWLqbsDcoLK_6h/s1600-h/P1011352.JPG"><img style="WIDTH: 200px; HEIGHT: 150px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5355453446715108066" border="0" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiWjM2qvBI4dmsdZzIZCfxriYvKIeHHrCDKQdatKgfwscxrDt5VTjn6WOslyJulcbhig1KFkTeCfErzRcTpmQ2F4qFfiZIC-JuRphZl1REwuxTZqbAzeG2gfph-FW5EQfkWLqbsDcoLK_6h/s200/P1011352.JPG" /></a><br /><br /><div><div><div><div><div><br /><span style="color:#ffcc66;">SWEDEN. New destination: new feelings, new thoughts, new perspectives on life too.</span><br /><br /><p><span style="color:#ffcc66;">Second time I step foot in this "God's own country". The reason: my dear Johan. And what a great reason! ... and the country doesn't stay back.</span></p><p></p><p><span style="color:#ffcc66;">To contrast (probably the most extremely possible) with my most recent international experience [India], in Sweden:</span></p><p><span style="color:#ffcc66;">- the air and tap water are the freshest;</span></p><p><span style="color:#ffcc66;">- the forests (mostly with pines) and lakes are at every corner; all the urbanism and infra-structure that covers no more than 30% of the territory were themselves stolen from forest;</span></p><p><span style="color:#ffcc66;">- recycling is institutionalized and their general behaviour as to anything that matters environment is in a generalized manner very responsible;</span></p><p><span style="color:#ffcc66;">- everyone seems to speak English;</span></p><p><span style="color:#ffcc66;">- everything, in every corner that you may take a peak at trying to find the fault that proves the rule... everywhere all things seem to be exactly in their place, neaty and organized as only in a very planned, efficient and thought for society as this one; </span></p><p><span style="color:#ffcc66;">- people have individual space, vital space for themselves in the interior and exterior spaces;</span></p><p><span style="color:#ffcc66;">- swedes do actually go out for walks and runs and ride their bicycles on a regular basis;</span></p><p><span style="color:#ffcc66;">- the houses are the best I´ve seen when it comes to combining aesthetics and practical sense - I can say MY DREAM HOUSE IS DEFINITELLY A MIX OF THE MANY I´VE BEEN SEING IN SWEDEN.</span></p><p><span style="color:#ffcc66;">- they have a very practical and efficient sense in all their activities.</span></p><p><span style="color:#ffcc66;"></span></p><p><span style="color:#ffcc66;"></span></p><p><span style="color:#ffcc66;">... For some reason Scandinavia is considered the peak of Civility (the opposite of what I felt in India). I had the luck to visit Finland 3 years ago too. The life quality and the life style here are definitelly above average. </span></p><p><span style="color:#ffcc66;"></span></p><p><span style="color:#ffcc66;">By both life quality and style I mean literal quality, not quantity, not unpurposeful wealth, not unestimated acumulation of belongings, not excess of consumerism, not only - in one word - money.</span></p><p><span style="color:#ffcc66;"></span></p><p><span style="color:#ffcc66;">I see more CONSCIOUSNESS in people as individuals belonging to colectivities.</span></p><p><span style="color:#ffcc66;"></span></p><p><span style="color:#ffcc66;">If this is good for the environment, peace on the streets, silence on the alleys, conviviality in public spaces, even for people's health habits... it's not so much so for their sense of tightedness, of control by the macro-structure, and their passiveness and resigned contentment as they are rocked by a soft and all-mighty condescendent paternal government. </span></p><p><span style="color:#ffcc66;"></span></p><p><span style="color:#ffcc66;"></span></p><p><span style="color:#ffcc66;">Can't be perfect if the highest rate of suicidal attempts and successes is registered here, 50% of married couples end up divorcing and it's raining and grey, close or bellow 0 degrees celsius and there are below 6 hours of light... something like: 9,5 months per year (no wonder the depression).</span></p><p><span style="color:#ffcc66;"></span></p><p><span style="color:#ffcc66;">IT´S BEEN LOOKING PRETTY PERFECT TO ME THOUGH (lucky I came in Summer ;) ). And these details... these features... are not what I wanted to focus on anyway. </span></p><p><span style="color:#ffcc66;"></span></p><p><span style="color:#ffcc66;"><span style="font-size:130%;"><span style="color:#33cc00;"></span></span></span></p><p><span style="color:#ffcc66;"><span style="font-size:130%;"><span style="color:#33cc00;">I wanna</span> <span style="color:#ff0000;">paint the colors</span> <span style="color:#ff6600;">of my happiness here</span>.</span> Check out what I've been up to in the past 3 weeks:</span></p><p><span style="color:#ffcc66;">- Early dinner barbeques outdoors, walks after dinner through neighbour small forests - always beautiful lakes and sunsets in our path</span></p><ul><li><span style="color:#ffcc66;">the best one? Friday, when me, Johan and Pontus took a boat and navigated and fished through a lake that brought us to a lost castle in a far away foresty island. Johan had fished a fish, the meat was in the bag, salad's ready and bathing suits on. We had put on a fire just on the steps of the lake as the rain came: we persisted, took clothes off to feel the rain and blew the fire hoping to keep it burning. As the sun came down and the 2 full rainbows had gone it was past 21h30 in a beautiful rose-purple sky just behind the mountains we faced. We ate, my feet on the water and a feeling of wildness in the soul. Later I even got to sing out loud - free and sound as I like, still in my bikinis, wandering around the castle amidst the vegetation and the echoing on its walls - this was when Johan found small strawberries: the tastiest concentrated flavour! The night ended with a lot of playing with the fire (no, I heard of no one wetting their beds later :P ) and an engine that didn't want to work as Johan rowed back home in an almost pitch dark lake (me, no worries, I was roled in a towel and trusted that it would go fine - so it did). </span></li></ul><p><span style="color:#ffcc66;">- visits to family in the most varied villages: always beautiful though: mamma Anna, cousin Linda, pappa Kent, granny & granpa, Adam, Sara, etc.</span> </p><ul><li><span style="color:#ffcc66;">one to remember? sunbathing in a fluctuating peer outside Kent's future house in Ulricehamn, eating salad and watermelon with Johan and sis' Sara and meditating standing on a warm lake rock.</span></li></ul><p><span style="color:#ffcc66;">- always great food: really tasty to my senses. Not to forget the variety of groceries in the supermarkets... and their proud summer delicacies: fresh potatoes and strawberries. Not so rare to me but still an infinite pleasure among Johan's family, especially accompanied with gravy and ice-cream (respectively :P ).</span> </p><ul><li><span style="color:#ffcc66;">unforgettable? FIKA with Johan, Karin, Mikael, Mina, granny, granpa, 2 uncles, 1 aunt and 3 cousins around grandparents' table, with tea, coffee, kakor (cookies) and kaka (cakes) prepared by granny. </span></li></ul><p><span style="color:#ffcc66;">- sports activities: from basketball in Växjö to fishing in Skirö to jogging in Vetlanda, from riding horse to jumping in elastic mattress to power yoga with Sarah and muscle personal coaching with Johan.</span></p><ul><li><span style="color:#ffcc66;">one of the nicest? walking in forest paths with Anna, Johan's mother, in a sunny early evening, here in there reaching the shining lake, here and there catching tasty mushrooms, here and there identifying birds and trees.</span></li></ul><p><span style="color:#ffcc66;">- I´m learning Svenska :D yay! apparently a fast learner. not an easy language at all though.</span></p><p><span style="color:#ffcc66;">- I took part in traditional Midsommar festival, dancing with children around the traditional flower pole and eating traditional dishes among family.</span></p><p><span style="color:#ffcc66;">- And the most suprising probaly: the first 2 weeks welcomed me with a shining warm sun that gave me a brown envy-worth tan. So sun-bathing in courtyard, lake peers, lake-sides, varandas, gardens, and still sometimes adding cold swims in far-sighted lakes... that has been something! There's even a beach served by the second biggest lake in Sweden, in Jönköping, with young people hanging around in the back gardens - great!</span></p><p><span style="color:#ffcc66;"></span></p><p><span style="color:#ffcc66;">In the meantime, I've been being very warmly integrated among Johan's family, especially Anna, Karin, Sara, Kent and Johan of course - TAK FÖR ALLT guys!!!! :) I am taking care of my love... and looking for my next job opportunity. Pray for me!</span></p><br /><p><span style="color:#ffcc66;"><img style="TEXT-ALIGN: center; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 336px; DISPLAY: block; HEIGHT: 239px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5355029609583735346" border="0" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjLpL3eLC8CmClfpwFJq1emsvmIZA3WENHco0YzMfWjEt-wZ6b36Fd6sKPCCX7d4x4QdKCyH309VjbhS2qmYXPhxwnWZ6u7DN9APqrSb5JLuedlqXqhcEQOee8yD8NNVoxXCSlNpT_0nOV2/s400/P4260198.JPG" /></span></p></div></div></div></div></div></div>Ráhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12728491369182071333noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-691805614896275297.post-62968828583011886422009-06-07T16:03:00.000-07:002009-07-03T13:18:16.288-07:00Travellers' perspectives on India<span class="Apple-style-span" style="COLOR: rgb(51,204,0)"><div></div><div></div><div></div><div></div><div></div><div></div><div> </div><div> </div><div> </div><div> </div><div>I've been hearing all sorts of things about India:</span></div><div></div><div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="COLOR: rgb(51,204,0)"></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="COLOR: rgb(51,204,0)"></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="COLOR: rgb(51,204,0)"></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="COLOR: rgb(51,204,0)"></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="COLOR: rgb(51,204,0)"></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="COLOR: rgb(51,204,0)"></span> </div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="COLOR: rgb(51,204,0)"></span> </div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="COLOR: rgb(51,204,0)"></span> </div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="COLOR: rgb(51,204,0)">- from people who visited the country as tourists for 15 days (or from someone who knows someone who did)</span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="COLOR: rgb(51,204,0)">- from those who did actually manage to make it through a longer and/or less conventional stay</span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="COLOR: rgb(51,204,0)">- and finally from those who have been watching the Brazilian soap-opera on India that is now being broadcasted on a main-stream channel in Portugal (but these don't deserve that many more words in the context of this comment).</span></div><div><span style="color:#33cc00;"></span></div><div><span style="color:#33cc00;"></span></div><div><span style="color:#33cc00;"></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="COLOR: rgb(51,204,0)"></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="COLOR: rgb(51,204,0)"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhCwbmj5XJJEL4-NdQDv2zclUg5pPdEQZ815JBKdNnj9Mee2XbWpU18OGkDhGJcx0SBfuQEJLb_l4n4nqVBf8FO3ciAVmUjEOaiWkf8_4rGknlTc2Hm79_iO7d2j56y8tDSAhhfsHNdA1sj/s1600-h/incredi1.gif"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5354326569395256210" style="FLOAT: left; MARGIN: 0px 10px 10px 0px; WIDTH: 143px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 256px" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhCwbmj5XJJEL4-NdQDv2zclUg5pPdEQZ815JBKdNnj9Mee2XbWpU18OGkDhGJcx0SBfuQEJLb_l4n4nqVBf8FO3ciAVmUjEOaiWkf8_4rGknlTc2Hm79_iO7d2j56y8tDSAhhfsHNdA1sj/s320/incredi1.gif" border="0" /></a>And as about no "vacation spot", I hear the most contrasting feelings and contradicting opinions about the INCREDIBLE INDIA. But not necessarily categorized as above: people vary, so do the reports. </span></div><div></div><div></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="COLOR: rgb(51,204,0)">The truth is that mentioning that you lived there, and the country itself, usually leaves no one indifferent.</span></div><div></div><div><br /><span class="Apple-style-span" style="COLOR: rgb(51,204,0)">The ones who haven't visited India, they usually have it either as:</span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="COLOR: rgb(51,204,0)">- their dream destiny </span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="COLOR: rgb(51,204,0)">- or think they could never take it, that they wouldn't be able to bear the crude reality of the country.</span></div><div></div><div><br /></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="COLOR: rgb(51,204,0)"></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="COLOR: rgb(51,204,0)">But many many among the ones that did get to do such an exotic trip: many of these western travellers (some friends among them), they simply didn't like it. </span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="COLOR: rgb(51,204,0)">Some even gave up out of shock in the middle of the journey if they had longer stays previewed; the others say they will never go back or if so only in 50 or 60 years. This is mostly because they saw so much garbage lying all over or just about thousands of skinny living people or wrapped up dead bodies being burned in Varanasi, or simply because they were subject to the worse smells, bugs and tummy problems ever!<br /></span></div><div></div><div><br /><span class="Apple-style-span" style="COLOR: rgb(51,204,0)">What I don't always get to tell them is that I think no profound shift can be foreseen for India if a dramatic change of mentalities doesn't take place among Indians.</span></div><div></div><div><br /></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="COLOR: rgb(51,204,0)"></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="COLOR: rgb(51,204,0)">The ones in between were shocked with some things and delighted with others and in the end "rather liked it". Most of these will confirm to if you ask: they did the same old journey between 5 star hotels in Rajasthan, Delhi and of course: Agra, and got cheated some dozens of times in what later they just laugh about and label as a cute cultural feature.</span></div><div><span style="color:#33cc00;"></span></div><div><span style="color:#33cc00;"></span></div><div><span style="color:#33cc00;"></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="COLOR: rgb(51,204,0)"></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="COLOR: rgb(51,204,0)"></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="COLOR: rgb(51,204,0)">Others are fans, fanatics, true appreciators of India.</span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="COLOR: rgb(51,204,0)">They love what the country has to offer in vast and diversified experiences, namely the cultural, spiritual and the aesthetical/ artistic.</span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="COLOR: rgb(51,204,0)">They are also looking for a sense of "seing the world", of finally getting a glimpse of true exoticism (these were definitely some of my drives). </span><br /></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="COLOR: rgb(51,204,0)">But there is also some sadistic idea that you will broaden your views and value life more by contacting with human misery (</span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="FONT-STYLE: italic"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="COLOR: rgb(51,204,0)">by pure coincidence</span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="COLOR: rgb(51,204,0)"> in a far distant country where you have the comfort to think that you don't have the power to do much about it). </span></div><div></div><div></div><div><br /><span class="Apple-style-span" style="COLOR: rgb(51,204,0)">Anyway... the ones who love(d) the Indian experience, they talk of its colors, of its smells, of its tastes, of its peculiar habits and rituals, of its wonderfully diverse environments and ancestral heritage: natural, architectural, artistic, religious, spiritual, etcaetera.</span></div><div></div><div><br /><span class="Apple-style-span" style="COLOR: rgb(51,204,0)">Afterall I haven't heard of a country with more revisiting, or with longer stays of travellers. For many India is the experience of a lifetime (it was for me). That's because it is such a distinct and challenging country for western globalized views, plus it offers and relatively harmoniously embraces and welcomes such DIVERSITY inside!</span></div></div><div></div><div><div></div><div></div><div><br /><span class="Apple-style-span" style="COLOR: rgb(51,204,0)">But India is not for anyone, that's for sure. </span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="COLOR: rgb(51,204,0)">Not everyone can let go of their comfort zone but most of all their mind frame and human principles to cope with what you face in that country - especially if you get deeper into the HOW's and WHY's. </span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="COLOR: rgb(51,204,0)">After 10 months, I didn't want to anymore.</span></div><div></div><div><br /><span class="Apple-style-span" style="COLOR: rgb(51,204,0)">For a "firangee" (* foreigner in Hindi) who was a resident in India for some time, the feelings are mixed as this blog testifies.</span> </div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="COLOR: rgb(51,204,0)">But I know none that would want to actually live there again, as I hardly know any Indian who wouldn't like to leave his country.</span></div></div>Ráhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12728491369182071333noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-691805614896275297.post-61105762877065190322009-04-27T17:38:00.000-07:002009-04-27T20:32:59.156-07:00Going Within: Spirituality Vs. The Spirit in India<p><span style="color:#ffcc00;">I spoke a lot here about what I felt of the spirit of India; I never got to mention its spirituality.</span></p><p><span style="color:#ffcc00;">This is a place that breathes spirituality, although, as everywhere, you can find genuine as well as pseudo/ simply social-ritualistic or even commercialized practices and faiths.</span></p><p><span style="color:#ffcc00;">'Guru' is a word that has fallen in disuse in the West as we tend to associate it with this fake trend in the matters of the spirit, but in India it is a very strong concept and a denomination attributed to all the living or past masters. </span></p><p><span style="color:#ffcc00;">Indeed, the <em>guru-pampara</em> tradition is still a reality in India as it was in the West since the Greek. This is the master-disciple approach to education, where the knowledge is passed directly between two individuals, rather than without customization from one distant speaker to a mass of individuals. </span></p><p><span style="color:#ffcc00;">This applies to any art form, as it applies to the Brahman Priests who are believed to have attained enlightenment, to be closer to God / the Truth as they became knowledgeable of the intricacies of texts as the Upanishads, the Baghvad Gita, the Ramayana, the Mahabaratha..., that tell the story of Hindu Philosophy. These are people who are holders of a greater power than most of us commons, and their simple presence or blessing in a given moment, place or function is believed to be auspicious to the people involved.</span></p><p><span style="color:#ffcc00;">Actually all classical art forms, especially performing arts but even plastic arts, are inevitably connected in a deep inescapable way with Indian philosophy, so for example when watching a classical dance recital, you won't miss the depiction of a legendary Hindu scene, as you won't be able to escape a transe state if you totally give in to the sound produced by voices, instruments and bodies that the performers learned to command in a sublime way after years and years of disciplined training in Hindustani or Carnatic music that has always a meditative side to it.</span></p><p><span style="color:#ffcc00;">And why are there more enlightened people in India? After all, didn't Budha get enlightened in Bodh Gaya? Aren't there so many others? Once someone explained me why: the only and simple reason is, first, that India is a millennary civilization where the spiritual path is assumed as an essencial part of every individual's life since the Vedas; and than that, unlike in the West, people who chose the yogic path have always and are still today seen with high regard and invited to explore it in any way found conducive - unlike in the West, where anyone going within or showing signs of connection to any dimension other than the materialistic pragmatic side of life was seen as herectic, prossecuted as witch, excomungated and burned in fires.</span></p><p><span style="color:#ffcc00;">Well India, irrespective of its profound challeges when it comes to the stage of development of many human rights , is as you hear people say: a spiritual place, a place where anyone who wants to explore the potential of the human spirit will definitely find their ways (be it truely autentic ways or new-age pseudo-yoga programmes: there's something for every taste).</span></p><p><span style="color:#ffcc00;">I had the privilege to meet some very special people who opened my windows of oportunity to practices, philosophies and currents as promising and inspiring as Hinduism, Budhism, Reiki, Aura/ Bioplasmic energies, Astrology, Palm reading, Cristals, Self-hipnosis / Subconscious Programming, Creative Visualization / Attraction Law, Guasha, Movement Meditation, Chakras, Power Yoga, NOW, among other much harder to to put into words forms of accessing or manipulating our Higher Power and the Ultimate Energy.</span></p><p><span style="color:#ffcc00;">But for sure what touched me and transformed me the most was the SCIENCE OF YOGA.</span></p><p><span style="color:#ffcc00;">I haven't found until today a more developed science for general well-being. Everything that I have seen since or had run accross before seems to have its roots in this apparently ever-existing way of living.</span></p><p><span style="color:#ffcc00;">Yoga sees human evolution in well-being from three angles:</span></p><p><span style="color:#ffcc00;">- The BODY - for which they created the Asanas, the "exercise"-alike (only apparent) practice that is genereally associated with the word Yoga in the West; and also Ayurvedic Medicine for help and facilitation of treatment in malfunction.</span></p><p><span style="color:#ffcc00;">- The MIND - for whose peacening they developed an important set of breathing-techniques, that make you re-learn such a vital but usual overlooked process of life and finally feel more balanced on a daily basis.</span></p><p><span style="color:#ffcc00;">- And the SPIRIT - for which access they found a very powerful tool called Meditation.</span></p><p><span style="color:#ffcc00;">But even in Yoga, there are many currents, but they are usually associated or combine sorts like: Hata Yoga, Kundalini Yoga, Vipasana, Prana Yama, among others.</span></p><p><span style="color:#ffcc00;">I relate very much to the holistic approach of Yogic Science to life, leaving no dimesion of people's existence out. And I afirm with no hesitation that a regular properly learnt and coached practice definitely takes you higher, frees you from mundane strains and helps you live happier, healthier and more aligned.</span></p><p><span style="color:#ffcc00;">Just be sure not to follow fake gurus or associations who do business with religion (test your identification with your guts), and please don't take just any temple rituals as profound manifestations. </span></p><p><span style="color:#ffcc00;">Don't take me wrong, there are many true believers among Indian people of course, people who live the philosophy and practice the principles. But unfortunately many many others play the spiritual role just as they are expected to (the same engine keeps them stuck to a more general out-of-date ancestral meaningless apathic pattern of living, where they relate only superficially to one's life, to others and to God). Many religious individuals perform their daily rituals mostly by obligation and habit, without really living the concepts or investing the moments with genuine connection with their God; or even having a faith bigger than fear of idols, society or difference.</span></p><p><span style="color:#ffcc00;">... Not to speak of the religious intolerance that mines the country from within although they have lived for centuries in an apparently harmonious conviviality, in a diversity melting-pot with the frame of democracy... but which goes against what <em>is</em> (not always preached but) for sure profoundly imbebed in the true essence of any religion practiced with fervour in that country where 80% are Hindus, 12% Muslims, and around 2-4% Budhists, Christians and Jains, plus smaller shares of any cult you may think of. </span></p><p><span style="color:#ffcc00;">And this is out of a mass of 1 billion Indians... imagine how representative and influencial it would be to any creed comunities in the world if these faith-practicioners would give a cohesive example of peaceful co-existence, true dialogue and a mutual understanding that in the end... we're all talking about the same, we're all aiming the same, which luckily is infinite and accessible to all.</span></p><p><span style="color:#ffcc00;">GOD IS TOO BIG TO FIT INTO ONE RELIGION.</span></p><p></p><p><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiXgR0ijM8kUM87IPfayjrNtycV12oHf2R2W7MJbRikQ6XGF4rfe9Z_BYjw_uoweejUEdseGbe-V8Pb2XEvhKzgEWgG8LbpbYm_CR-xrT993ry1jlDUKEQ8nA-tj4qcq7IH2a4K9KLOLTZU/s1600-h/God+is+too+big+to+fit+into+one+Religion"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5329567854838709826" style="WIDTH: 400px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 300px" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiXgR0ijM8kUM87IPfayjrNtycV12oHf2R2W7MJbRikQ6XGF4rfe9Z_BYjw_uoweejUEdseGbe-V8Pb2XEvhKzgEWgG8LbpbYm_CR-xrT993ry1jlDUKEQ8nA-tj4qcq7IH2a4K9KLOLTZU/s400/God+is+too+big+to+fit+into+one+Religion" border="0" /></a> </p><p><span style="color:#ffcc33;">(writing already from Portugal)</span></p>Ráhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12728491369182071333noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-691805614896275297.post-17415609083193564142009-03-30T07:44:00.000-07:002009-04-05T11:35:57.217-07:00Memories from my final Big Trip in India<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhrMsWOmervofGsBMLEjDMF4kTiaf7_uYql80ApNmK4-Ivy636NbrVMi_SQ5Hu3OC0mEzT5hQSGyPr-SZDkx3D3aZM2cI32wuso2eBe8gmNWbsG5p3fHhIGDB2YyFiORFQcYJ87SNSHWoK5/s1600-h/P1010219.JPG"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5319051268295567250" style="WIDTH: 320px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 240px" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhrMsWOmervofGsBMLEjDMF4kTiaf7_uYql80ApNmK4-Ivy636NbrVMi_SQ5Hu3OC0mEzT5hQSGyPr-SZDkx3D3aZM2cI32wuso2eBe8gmNWbsG5p3fHhIGDB2YyFiORFQcYJ87SNSHWoK5/s320/P1010219.JPG" border="0" /></a><br /><span style="color:#ffff00;"></span><br /><span style="color:#ffff00;">I shared with Mariana my last long trip in India. </span><br /><span style="color:#ffff00;">This one brought me first to the South, for the 3rd time to a state that definitelly feels like you're out of India: Goa - in a stay that from 2 nights ended up in 8 (just what we needed!). Then back again to the so different North: Delhi and Agra. In the North-East, two new very worth visiting spots: Varanasi, the berth of the India's spirituality, and Bodhgaya, the berth of Siddhartha as the Budha. Finally the central Mumbai, which I now saw with different eyes.</span><br /><br /><span style="color:#ffff00;">This was a phase when my tireness of being treated as lesser than anyone deserves and undergoing undignifying situations was getting to the maximum. My delusion total at points.</span><br /><br /><ol><li><span style="color:#00cccc;">The boy with a Hotel Management Degree working in one of the poor Indian Railway Cafeterias, alleging a communication weakness (I think he was gay and thus he didn't stay long in hotel chains run by Indian 'business-MEN'). I wrote him a recommendation comment in the suggestion book and me and Mariana will definitelly write him a recommendation letter for a proper hotel job whenever he asks us to. He was polite and effective as almost no one we found in this country: that's what clientelle is looking for though</span><span style="color:#00cccc;"> hardly any enterprise seems to have realized it here.</span><br /></li><li><span style="color:#00cccc;">The burning ghats in Varanasi, where over 150 dead bodies arrive per day.</span></li><br /><li><span style="color:#ff0000;">What everyone called 'misconduct': when part of the railway was bombed in what was said to be common 'local terrorism', very close to Gaya where I expected a train to go back to Varanasi. This led to a series of misinformation, 3 hour waiting, and a train trip that should have taken 5 relatively comfortable hours and ended up in 12 quite disputed hours. Result: the whole day was destroyed, but of course we arrived safely.</span></li><br /><li><span style="color:#33cc00;">Walking the steps of Lord Budha in Varanasi and Bodhgaya, namely around the Bodhi tree where he got enlightened.</span></li><br /><li><span style="color:#ff0000;">Realising the theatre that adults and children do to beg, transfigurating themselves, doing special dreadful agony-like voices. often lying.</span></li><br /><li><span style="color:#33cc00;">The best Lassi in India, sweet, thick, eatable with spoon, dry fruits inside: in an Agra roof-top restaurant having the Taj Mahal silhouette as a neighbour.</span></li><br /><li><span style="color:#ff0000;">The undescribable Spiritual Disneyland of India in a main metropole, which name I won't mention for the sake of respect and discretion. Included: motion toys and giant screens depicting the life of the Swamiji.</span></li><br /><li><span style="color:#ff0000;">The fact that, in the mundane India, even the people that seem to go out of the ordinary and give you a sense of relieve and hope as they stand out from a generally lame majority... in the end all of them deceive the expectations you had thought them to surpass.</span></li><br /><li><span style="color:#33cc00;">The Budhist temples in North-Varanasi and in Bodh Gaya. Simple truthful philosophy, beautiful practices, powerful mantras, inspiring places, colourful temples. ---- Feeling everyday more spiritual, although I'm a mere beginner even as a seeker.</span></li><br /><li><span style="color:#ff0000;">Almost being hit on the ear by one of thousands of red liquids being spit from an Indian's mouth out of a train. Being forced to hear noices from the inside of men's bodies all the time (burping, gobing, spiting, etc - !!!!!).</span></li><br /><li><span style="color:#00cccc;">The riders of cycle-rickshaws in Northern India whose feet don't reach the pedals.</span></li><br /><li><span style="color:#ff0000;">VARANASI AIRPORT, flying to MUMBAI (!): <strong>NO ONE AT ANY POINT ASKED US FOR OUR PASSPORT</strong>!!!!! NO COMMENTS. I had to go and identify our luggage in the hangar on its way to the airplane after checking it in.</span></li><br /><li><span style="color:#ff0000;">Lies everywhere! Being cheated. But still naïf sometimes. Feeling irreversibly fed up with the country and the way it works.</span></li><br /><li><span style="color:#33cc00;">Silent Noice party in Neptune Point, end of Palolem Beach, South Goa. Great party with head-phones, three frequencies playing different DJ's and a great setting watching the beach from the rocks.</span></li><br /><li><span style="color:#33cc00;">The Good Life in Palolem, Goa, and the things I tried there.</span></li><br /><li><span style="color:#33cc00;">The full-moon night in Palolem beach, when its light made the sand white and reflected in waters that rose to my feet, sitting on a beach swing.</span></li><br /><li><span style="color:#ff0000;">Learning with Mariana that treating them bad, that's the only way it works for foreigners. No more minding being rude, even laughing unrespectfully in the face of no-minded people.</span></li><br /><li><span style="color:#ff0000;">Feelings like compassion and respect just vanish from you after a while of living and travelling this country because you've been deceived so many times. In the streets they don't have the minimum principles.</span></li><br /><li><span style="color:#ff0000;">Indians in its gross mattering majority are sadly totally resigned.</span></li><br /><li><span style="color:#ff0000;">Incredible levels of challenge: risk and lack of higiene one after the other.</span></li><br /><li><span style="color:#ff0000;">Nauseating and despicable behaviour of common men. Submissive and apathic behaviour of women.</span></li><br /><li><span style="color:#00cccc;">They don't touch food and drink containers with their mouth, including water bottles and glasses.</span></li><br /><li><span style="color:#00cccc;">They paint their children's eyes in black from when they are months-old.</span></li><br /><li><span style="color:#ff0000;">Babies don't cry. Children don't complain. They have suffered too much before.</span><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiqZX96Ksckq4yNEl2hSlniKBKVF9KaMvJBgiY0Zm2UiHVRQZmj4uZtCacr2risANBkcMQgOmcYy4wX1I-8bKtqhl3odnOtIm2tepdADuEl9Q4xtxI1KDa0Y-AWUbOrkYk8HP5oZgBsIUfc/s1600-h/P1010483.JPG"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5319051272644834530" style="WIDTH: 320px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 240px" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiqZX96Ksckq4yNEl2hSlniKBKVF9KaMvJBgiY0Zm2UiHVRQZmj4uZtCacr2risANBkcMQgOmcYy4wX1I-8bKtqhl3odnOtIm2tepdADuEl9Q4xtxI1KDa0Y-AWUbOrkYk8HP5oZgBsIUfc/s320/P1010483.JPG" border="0" /></a><br /></li><li><span style="color:#33cc00;">The ceremonial side of Varanasi, the belief and the mystical side of the Ganga. Seing them meditating, bathing and drinking out of those bacterial waters that apparently get no one sick. Seing it by 5.30 am... and still the foggy amazing sunrise!</span></li><br /><li><span style="color:#00cccc;">Indian Hotel number: 30 or so? Have seen a lot, believe me!</span></li><br /><li><span style="color:#33cc00;">Seing Mumbai with different eyes as you get a view to the bay from Renato's apartment.</span></li><br /><li><span style="color:#00cccc;">A Bollywood-like wedding on a private beach at Intercontinental Hotel in South Goa, in which we ended up by chance. Dozens of cooks, dozens of masks, stage, lighting and a sky filming-camera: a lot of dancing in a Carnival-like atmosphere. And that must have been only one night among the ceremonies that usually last for days.</span></li><br /><li><span style="color:#ff0000;">There are definitelly 2 INDIAS.</span></li><br /><li><span style="color:#33cc00;">The reinforcement of an eternal friendship with Mariana Aflalo Lopes, original from Santos, SP, Brazil, but one of my girls, a woman from the world, and a woman from the heart.</span></li></ol><p></p><p><span style="color:#33cc00;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgmon1EVx0atu9FhxEZorYUGjDaVTMzPdBxkRVdfgxI1ruXBgfIC1afTH3ngd2V4QxQ-RcjCdephyphenhyphenulRtr3b-i1lX3qy5IhDcey55DJ51tx3ip8sBmKZIozPCh0Sh8kTwhjSX8YzlBuz6PV/s1600-h/P1011052.JPG"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5319051276387113730" style="WIDTH: 320px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 240px" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgmon1EVx0atu9FhxEZorYUGjDaVTMzPdBxkRVdfgxI1ruXBgfIC1afTH3ngd2V4QxQ-RcjCdephyphenhyphenulRtr3b-i1lX3qy5IhDcey55DJ51tx3ip8sBmKZIozPCh0Sh8kTwhjSX8YzlBuz6PV/s320/P1011052.JPG" border="0" /></a></span></p>Ráhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12728491369182071333noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-691805614896275297.post-33199271866676421872009-02-27T08:41:00.000-08:002009-03-05T12:16:23.261-08:00The Other Side<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEikJObWBSpfhqM2pn-GP1jIvomyHq7CWOQSWYR_89204PtfRkZ5Q2EpeBtiEdj3N6zDt57aRUr5An1nP2QNveRCT_-h_X5Kl6Sg8FXEUX0dAZRZKdnBfvJytcSFZ-4Kd9ClSwDwgdMqB1Yh/s1600-h/23112008.jpg"><span style="color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"> </span><img style="cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEikJObWBSpfhqM2pn-GP1jIvomyHq7CWOQSWYR_89204PtfRkZ5Q2EpeBtiEdj3N6zDt57aRUr5An1nP2QNveRCT_-h_X5Kl6Sg8FXEUX0dAZRZKdnBfvJytcSFZ-4Kd9ClSwDwgdMqB1Yh/s320/23112008.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5307543179701143618" border="0" /></a><br /><br /><span style="color: rgb(51, 204, 255);">To everything of marvelous I've been saying about India, my experiences and travels, some reality is naturally missing.</span> <span style="color: rgb(51, 204, 255);"><br />And probably because now I'm in countdown to return, the contradictions start jumping even more to my eyes and things that I took as inevitable start adding up and bugging me.</span> <span style="color: rgb(51, 204, 255);"><br />And of course I have to mention them to you at some point. So now is the time.</span> <span style="color: rgb(51, 204, 255);"><br />Here is the possible summary, of only the things that occurred to me now.</span><br /><span style="color: rgb(51, 204, 255);"><br />Of course you find exceptions, but for sure the rule in this country is as I witnessed:</span><br /><br /><span style="color: rgb(51, 204, 255);">They have no ‘collective thinking’.</span> <span style="color: rgb(51, 204, 255);"><br /><br />They naturally try to take advantage of every situation.</span> <span style="color: rgb(51, 204, 255);"><br /><br />They are very rude. To an outrageous point.</span> <span style="color: rgb(51, 204, 255);"><br /><br />There´s no such thing as client service and satisfaction except in 5 stars.</span> <span style="color: rgb(51, 204, 255);"><br /><br />To be a foreigner means to be seen as 'a walking dollar bill' (quoting Mariana).</span><br /><span style="color: rgb(51, 204, 255);"><br />The misery is really miserable here and many social roles and rules just reinforce it and make it inescapable for many right from birth.</span><br /><span style="color: rgb(51, 204, 255);"><br />To be a tourist here is challenging, to be an expatriate is a daily fight that in the end wears your energy and patience down.</span> <span style="color: rgb(51, 204, 255);"><br /><br />I’ve never seen more lack of efficiency, logistics management, organization, information. E.g., it took me 5 hours in the main post office of Bangalore to finalize the process of giving in my parcels to send to Portugal. I had to accompany all the phases of the process to make sure the boxes didn’t get wrongly tagged, weighed (which at first they still were), placed, etc.</span> <span style="color: rgb(51, 204, 255);"><br /><br />Their mind-set is very rigid and oriented towards survival, advantage and rituals.</span> <span style="color: rgb(51, 204, 255);">I’ve hardly seen or met anyone who seemed to be happy.</span><br /><span style="color: rgb(51, 204, 255);"><br />CHILDREN are spoiled if they are boys, put up with or mistreated if they are girls (mostly because parents will have to pay loads to the groom's family for them to get married). They're put to work or crippled to beg for money.</span><br /><br /><span style="color: rgb(51, 204, 255);">Animals, namely street-dogs, are often mistreated.</span> <span style="color: rgb(51, 204, 255);"><br /><br />The corruption is very high and works at all levels of society.</span> <span style="color: rgb(51, 204, 255);"><br /><br />You see irresponsible action all the time: </span> <span style="color: rgb(51, 204, 255);"><br />- for public safety (maniac driving; street lighting/energy having exposed cables and high tension circuits at hand level; unstable sidewalks and construction structures; the Police maintaining metallic structures in the middle of the road with no notice or illumination, etc etc etc),<br /></span> <span style="color: rgb(51, 204, 255);">- for public health (burning garbage in the street; throwing any sort of garbage anywhere, even rivers, even office floors!; even supermarket items are full of dust)...</span> <span style="color: rgb(51, 204, 255);"><br /><br />The level of Civilization of Indian society is very low.</span> <span style="color: rgb(51, 204, 255);"><br /><br />This is a country of contrasts where you keep bumping into opposites.</span> <span style="color: rgb(51, 204, 255);"><br /><br />Socially they are stuck to ancient cast system, prejudice and pre-conceptions that limit the life potential of the Self.</span> <span style="color: rgb(51, 204, 255);"><br /><br />There’s little space for love in this culture. It’s more about rituals, obligations, convenience, logics and one's or one's family's goals.</span> <span style="color: rgb(51, 204, 255);"><br /><br />They forbade dancing in Bangalore and any place closes strictly until 11.30 pm. Justice definitely doesn't target the actual problems.</span> <span style="color: rgb(51, 204, 255);"><br /><br />They lack assertiveness. Even their head movement for 'yes' looks like 'more or less' or 'maybe' or even 'no'. And they don't know how to say 'no' or 'i don't know'.</span><br /><br /><span style="color: rgb(51, 204, 255);">Their notion of hygiene is VERY poor, so you definitely have to learn how to share your space with cockroaches, lizards, spiders and many sorts of biting mosquitos.</span><br /><br /><span style="color: rgb(51, 204, 255);">Shops, pharmacies, all sorts of businesses look exactly the same from the outside and you can rarely find what you want at first.</span> <span style="color: rgb(51, 204, 255);"><br /><br />Women hold a very poor condition irrespective of their social status. The poorest and oldest work in construction (!). The younger and richest can only wait for the day they'll be given to a man chosen by someone else. The average cannot expect to be spoken to by a man. In many cases women are the ones working while the man stays sitting and drinking at home, and plus they suffer abuse.</span><br /><br /><span style="color: rgb(51, 204, 255);">People have hardly any social life, they live their family's or their husband's family's life, very often not their own.</span><br /><br /><span style="color: rgb(51, 204, 255);">Dignity doesn't exist here as I have known it until today. Not only do many people not act respectfully and don't act as to be respected, as also the cast and social differences really make people treat others as if they were not the same race or kind (either too tyrannically or too submissively). Plus there's the whole condition in which people appear to you to beg etc ETC ET CETERA.</span> <span style="color: rgb(51, 204, 255);"><br /><br />People simply accept and repeat what their ancestors have done, evolution is very relative in this country and mostly stimulated by foreign investment.</span> <span style="color: rgb(51, 204, 255);"><br /><br />ULTIMATELY AND SURPRISINGLY THIS COUNTRY WORKS IN CHAOS.</span><br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhi1DHq-l7s9_92USlqdUlrmUEDM-OH4Ywx1ls0EDQ7Omf65inzWa69ftJWLubMWqyzfGK7gokHp4lWKtiKN3jlNdqLjJObvHNjWMENiaqQnBsi_sr2KbZuo5ghWtqLn7PXgdRC21sHVyYg/s1600-h/25092008.jpg"> <img style="cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhi1DHq-l7s9_92USlqdUlrmUEDM-OH4Ywx1ls0EDQ7Omf65inzWa69ftJWLubMWqyzfGK7gokHp4lWKtiKN3jlNdqLjJObvHNjWMENiaqQnBsi_sr2KbZuo5ghWtqLn7PXgdRC21sHVyYg/s320/25092008.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5307543183007717890" border="0" /></a>Ráhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12728491369182071333noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-691805614896275297.post-81225039483204609652009-02-17T13:33:00.000-08:002009-02-18T16:37:43.526-08:00Memories from South-India<span class="Apple-style-span" style="COLOR: rgb(255,204,0)"></span><br /><span class="Apple-style-span" style="COLOR: rgb(255,204,0)">I had visited all those places: Goa, Hampi, Pondicherry, Chennai, Bangalore, Allepey, Fort Kochin (only Mumbai - the point of origin - I hadn't, but still I didn't this time, after some typical but personally rare digestive problem that kept me in bed)... </span><br /><br /><span class="Apple-style-span" style="COLOR: rgb(255,204,0)">... but to re-live these sites with you, my darling, made a whole lot of difference. I love you forever.</span><br /><br /><span class="Apple-style-span" style="COLOR: rgb(255,204,0)">Again this is not the story of my trip with my sister-like friend Ana Gil (a.k.a. Ana Sanchez de Sousa, Ana Gil de Sousa Pinto, Aninha or Docas), but the story of some first striking memories from South-India in the 1st fortnight of Feb'09 with her.</span><br /><br /><ol><li><span class="Apple-style-span" style="COLOR: rgb(255,204,0)">The attempt of a pseudo-guru to ask for money for some lucky-charm objects and a forehead paint tikka alleging a religious festival while we still carried our backpacks together for the first time.</span></li><br /><li><span class="Apple-style-span" style="COLOR: rgb(255,204,0)">Putting pain-killer mint gel in my mouth in an attempt to brush my teeth in a (quite common) pitch-dark guest house room in Allepey, Kerala.</span></li><br /><li><span class="Apple-style-span" style="COLOR: rgb(255,204,0)">Sleeping in never-washed brown dirty berths and hearing the vomits of someone 4 am in train Hampi-Chennai: immediately rated 2nd grossest experience in India (classified under a revolving stomach).</span></li><br /><li><span class="Apple-style-span" style="COLOR: rgb(255,204,0)">Having our heads full of flowers and eating fruits from the trees while walking the canal villages, homes and rice plantations of Allepey with a local villager.</span></li><br /><li><span class="Apple-style-span" style="COLOR: rgb(255,204,0)">The contrast in cities like Mumbai and Pondi between touristic and urban/local areas.</span></li><br /><li><span class="Apple-style-span" style="COLOR: rgb(255,204,0)">The moving fact that Ricky came to Mumbai just to say goodbye to me. Really appreciated it, dear. Sorry for having had to stay in bed.</span></li><br /><li><span class="Apple-style-span" style="COLOR: rgb(255,204,0)">Great sunset on top of Hannuman/ Monkey Temple, Hampi.</span></li><br /><li><span class="Apple-style-span" style="COLOR: rgb(255,204,0)">Good guides: good people: T. - village tour in Allepey; call rickshaw driver Vikram if you go to Hampi for any pick-up or drop or day tour: he is honest like there are few, very helpful and a nice person: his number: 00919480568903.</span></li><br /><li><span class="Apple-style-span" style="COLOR: rgb(255,204,0)">My carry-around small back-pack always having everything that was needed.</span></li><br /><li><span class="Apple-style-span" style="COLOR: rgb(255,204,0)">Meeting young, middle-aged and aged women travelling India alone and finding it easy. Like our newly made friend Ute, from Germany, in Hampi - the 65 y.o. youngster, our pal.</span></li><br /><li><span class="Apple-style-span" style="COLOR: rgb(255,204,0)">'Ladies Only' marked zones: bus seats, train wagons, queues.</span></li><br /><li><span class="Apple-style-span" style="COLOR: rgb(255,204,0)">Being stolen an ice-cream by a crow while walking Fort Cochin ocean promenade, reminding me of having been stolen 6 bananas by a monkey on the way to Taj Mahal.</span></li><br /><li><span class="Apple-style-span" style="COLOR: rgb(255,204,0)">A Cape-Verdean Coladera music playing at 'Upstairs Italian Restaurant' in Fort Cochin, after Kathakali (again an amazing artistic experience).</span></li><br /><li><span class="Apple-style-span" style="COLOR: rgb(255,204,0)">Ayurvedic massage in a wooden table with oil: the 2 girls by 2 girls.</span></li><br /><li><span class="Apple-style-span" style="COLOR: rgb(255,204,0)">The elephant bath, feeding and ride in Perimbavoor, Kerala.</span></li><br /><li><span class="Apple-style-span" style="COLOR: rgb(255,204,0)">Having my very travelled sandals sowed for the 3rd time.</span></li><br /><li><span class="Apple-style-span" style="COLOR: rgb(255,204,0)">Eating egg biriyani (an Indian rice specialty) with hand in my final train.</span></li><br /><li><span class="Apple-style-span" style="COLOR: rgb(255,204,0)">Staying in a family-house in Kochi.</span></li><br /><li><span class="Apple-style-span" style="COLOR: rgb(255,204,0)">Palolem Beach, Goa, and the will to stay longer.</span></li><br /><li><span class="Apple-style-span" style="COLOR: rgb(255,204,0)">Ana's determination and success in overcoming just about enough of all India's personal challenges: hygiene, mosquito bites, garbage and dirtiness, danger and relative risk, fear of malaria and others, men's looks, usage of public low budget crowded transportation and accommodation, luggage carrying and pains, heat, confrontation with poverty and misery, disturbing noise and loud horning, constantly having someone trying to sell to you = cheat you, etc.</span></li><br /><li><span class="Apple-style-span" style="COLOR: rgb(255,204,0)">The way everything simply worked in spite of chaos.</span></li><br /><li><span class="Apple-style-span" style="COLOR: rgb(255,204,0)">The way I started really missing home and people for the first time in my life after the taste of familiarity through Ana. The re-awakening of romantism.</span></li><br /><li><span class="Apple-style-span" style="COLOR: rgb(255,204,0)">Feeling like a good traveller and back-packer.</span></li><br /><li><span class="Apple-style-span" style="COLOR: rgb(255,204,0)">The orange(st) sunset in Kerala.</span></li><br /><li><span class="Apple-style-span" style="COLOR: rgb(255,204,0)">Sitting on the open-door steps of train Madgaon-Cancona, Goa. </span></li><br /><li><span class="Apple-style-span" style="COLOR: rgb(255,204,0)">The trip in suburban bus to Auroville: overcrowded, literally glued to 3 indian women, their babies, bags and buckets.</span></li><br /><li><span class="Apple-style-span" style="COLOR: rgb(255,204,0)">Our late night talks in beds covered by mosquito-nets or upper-berths of trains, recovering all the lost time after not having met each other for long.</span></li><br /><li><span class="Apple-style-span" style="COLOR: rgb(255,204,0)">Taking every day (almost! - whenever there could be one) 2 or 3 showers in one go after having put on a thick layer of dust.</span></li><br /><li><span class="Apple-style-span" style="COLOR: rgb(255,204,0)">The colonial outlook of Old Goa and Pondicherry and the Portuguese and French heritage and cultural/ linguistic remains.</span></li><br /><li><span class="Apple-style-span" style="COLOR: rgb(255,204,0)">How good it is to revisit places and see them with less anxious eyes, especially when you have such a great company! :)</span></li></ol><br /><br /><p><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5304295238670213538" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 400px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 300px; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiYTJmjQrNqK0AZoPAUBDJ5jQCdlrsrLYaO_qZgnx5MtPxHOHYDXj8cvax9AKfId30iMCARleha3Wmxch-duvYa1CdCvssWqqgZZHmabsIvmPRcAHf9Mz32XpElN7P4nHbmJhp4dUQ-g0e4/s400/PICT0048.JPG" border="0" /></p>Ráhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12728491369182071333noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-691805614896275297.post-61552473317333509462009-02-16T09:39:00.000-08:002009-02-18T16:26:32.356-08:00Memories from North-India<span class="Apple-style-span" style="COLOR: rgb(255,204,255)"><br /><div>This is not the the story of Maria (Slovakia), Raquel (Portugal), Anna (Russia), Ahmed (Egipt), Michelle (Brazil) and Eduardo (Brazil) in an unforgettable 2 week trip in the North of India during the last fortnight of Jan'09.</span></div><br /><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="COLOR: rgb(255,204,255)">Rajasthan and Punjab have thousands of years of stories to tell themselves, so this is the story of my memories of North/ North-Western India:</span><br /></div><ol><li><span class="Apple-style-span" style="COLOR: rgb(255,204,255)">Thousands of colourful sikh turbants.</span><br /></li><br /><li><span class="Apple-style-span" style="COLOR: rgb(255,204,255)">'Hello! 5 rupees._ ... _ ... Ok. 10 rupees' - said the begging children.</span><br /></li><br /><li><span class="Apple-style-span" style="COLOR: rgb(255,204,255)">My Yoga practice in the Rajasthan desert sunset.</span><br /></li><br /><li><span class="Apple-style-span" style="COLOR: rgb(255,204,255)">The profuse jewels of arabesque architecture.</span><br /></li><br /><li><span class="Apple-style-span" style="COLOR: rgb(255,204,255)">The old man snoring in one of several sleeping trains.</span><br /></li><br /><li><span class="Apple-style-span" style="COLOR: rgb(255,204,255)">'Excuse me, 'mam. Don't miss my shop.'</span><br /></li><br /><li><span class="Apple-style-span" style="COLOR: rgb(255,204,255)">The generosity of some and the greediness of others.</span><br /></li><br /><li><span class="Apple-style-span" style="COLOR: rgb(255,204,255)">The sun 'heating' the lake in Udaipur.</span><br /></li><br /><li><span class="Apple-style-span" style="COLOR: rgb(255,204,255)">The sunrise watching the Maharaja Palace from a distance in Jodhpur, the blue city... and being awake to see it.</span><br /></li><br /><li><span class="Apple-style-span" style="COLOR: rgb(255,204,255)">Climbing to the Tiger Fort in Jaipur, city of the pink city.</span><br /></li><br /><li><span class="Apple-style-span" style="COLOR: rgb(255,204,255)">Squeezing in my initial Reiki practice in every possible circumstance, in every rickshaw, jeep, waiting room, coffee table.</span><br /></li><br /><li><span class="Apple-style-span" style="COLOR: rgb(255,204,255)">The richness of the maharajas and their palaces.</span><br /></li><br /><li><span class="Apple-style-span" style="COLOR: rgb(255,204,255)">The sad or surprising adultness in many children.</span><br /></li><br /><li><span class="Apple-style-span" style="COLOR: rgb(255,204,255)">Managing loads of people and luggage in auto-rickshaws (three-wheelers).</span><br /></li><br /><li><span class="Apple-style-span" style="COLOR: rgb(255,204,255)">No hot shower or no shower at all.</span><br /></li><br /><li><span class="Apple-style-span" style="COLOR: rgb(255,204,255)">The con-men in Delhi - outrageous and extremely tiring!</span><br /></li><br /><li><span class="Apple-style-span" style="COLOR: rgb(255,204,255)">The Taj Mahal in Agra.</span><br /></li><br /><li><span class="Apple-style-span" style="COLOR: rgb(255,204,255)">How handy my blanket in rooms and trains.</span><br /></li><br /><li><span class="Apple-style-span" style="COLOR: rgb(255,204,255)">Surprisingly always managing to relax in each of the 8 cities we visited in 10 days.</span><br /></li><br /><li><span class="Apple-style-span" style="COLOR: rgb(255,204,255)">Sitting in the sun in front of Lotus Temple, Delhi (Baha'i House of Worship).</span><br /></li><br /><li><span class="Apple-style-span" style="COLOR: rgb(255,204,255)">The monk in Jain Temple 'seasoning' all the images of Budha #8, Jaisalmer.</span><br /></li><br /><li><span class="Apple-style-span" style="COLOR: rgb(255,204,255)">Feeling cold again - never thought I could miss it!</span><br /></li><br /><li><span class="Apple-style-span" style="COLOR: rgb(255,204,255)">The Golden Temple (the 'Meca' of he Sikh Religion), sun-lighted and reflecting in the lake, and its chantings at night in Amritsar, Punjab.</span><br /></li><br /><li><span class="Apple-style-span" style="COLOR: rgb(255,204,255)">Young and old Indians wanting to take pictures with/of us - and inevitably getting to our nerves.</span><br /></li><br /><li><span class="Apple-style-span" style="COLOR: rgb(255,204,255)">Thousands of stars near the bonfire in the desert, while eating fire-made food prepared by our camel-guides.</span><br /></li><br /><li><span class="Apple-style-span" style="COLOR: rgb(255,204,255)">Easier and easier to get into 'alfa' state.</span><br /></li><br /><li><span class="Apple-style-span" style="COLOR: rgb(255,204,255)">The 7h bus-trip Jodhpur-Udaipur, almost freezing and with no space for my legs.</span><br /></li><br /><li><span class="Apple-style-span" style="COLOR: rgb(255,204,255)">The covered heads of women.</span><br /></li><br /><li><span class="Apple-style-span" style="COLOR: rgb(255,204,255)">Being so well taken care for by Rhea and Rhea's family in her house in Delhi.</span></li><br /><li><span class="Apple-style-span" style="COLOR: rgb(255,204,255)">Yoga on the floor of Bangalore airport 3 am first day and in a Delhi Airport chair 9 am last day.</span> </li></ol><p><br /></p><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5304297891198167762" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 400px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 300px; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgUOitnER7Cumlig3n6lStwOOdbOuhrbOrhyphenhyphenagMBP92hORhH2vyFRhkl4NxAwWVjmet_5Ri_acwl2Xe7BzRxRFL3TPqbrtS_IO1cF7zbOWnB2VdHAIFHXmS0WfzcKx9toktH7YQddrsldPu/s400/DSC01825.JPG" border="0" />Ráhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12728491369182071333noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-691805614896275297.post-72980486819137984452009-01-14T12:02:00.001-08:002009-01-18T16:14:09.443-08:00A glimpse of Paradise<div><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhId8Vron8kpdFj3TWt91uuwDDAN_6DAu6pFC18ls2YLELHKw5IdEwGaOxKGUJy3_AMscVAGkGWktS2N0NDJDrtPz0NNyx3ulHRke9iANoKv-jCMhYH95JdRop5lZJAW0QfKFuAJdhnBhcB/s1600-h/RIMG0891.JPG"><span style="color:#ffffff;"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5291256086866325234" style="WIDTH: 320px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 240px" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhId8Vron8kpdFj3TWt91uuwDDAN_6DAu6pFC18ls2YLELHKw5IdEwGaOxKGUJy3_AMscVAGkGWktS2N0NDJDrtPz0NNyx3ulHRke9iANoKv-jCMhYH95JdRop5lZJAW0QfKFuAJdhnBhcB/s320/RIMG0891.JPG" border="0" /></span></a><span style="color:#ffffff;"><br /><br /></span><div><span style="color:#ffffff;">Thailand was a glimpse of Paradise. </span><div><div><span style="color:#ffffff;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="color:#ffffff;">At least if anyone had told me that in one country you could:</span></div><div><span style="color:#ffffff;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="color:#ffffff;"></span></div><div><span style="color:#ffffff;">- Have frequent very cheap massage on the beach or any urban corner, but not any massage: Thai Massage, the best I've ever tried. In group, in couble, anyway! Full body, feet, reflexology, oil, etc!</span></div><div><span style="color:#ffffff;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="color:#ffffff;">- Eat the best and freshest fruit and 'fruit encounters' ever in every corner of the country, even in the boat, even in the water!</span></div><div><span style="color:#ffffff;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="color:#ffffff;">- Have any wish, the weirdest? Be sure of it: Bangkok has it.</span></div><div><span style="color:#ffffff;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="color:#ffffff;">- See monkeys, elephants, sharks and snakes.</span></div><div><span style="color:#ffffff;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="color:#ffffff;">- Experience an amazingly metropolitan capital, with sky-scratchers and beautiful urban views.</span></div><div><span style="color:#ffffff;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="color:#ffffff;">- Eat very cheap and good street food, including the unforgettable banana pancakes.</span></div><div><span style="color:#ffffff;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="color:#ffffff;">- Travel easily because - the tourism being the base of their economy - everything is thought of before you wish for it.</span></div><div><span style="color:#ffffff;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="color:#ffffff;">- Meet a clean neaty organized environment everywhere.</span></div><div><span style="color:#ffffff;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="color:#ffffff;">- Eat very good Thai food in almost every restaurant.</span></div><div><span style="color:#ffffff;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="color:#ffffff;">- Have three-wheelers (rickshaws, that they call tuk-tuks there), motor-bikes, side-cars, tri-cycles and cars working as taxis (5 options: not bad, uh?).</span></div><div><span style="color:#ffffff;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="color:#ffffff;">- Have sexuality being accepted to such a point that transvestis are not only very well accepted as also very respected in the society, and profuse.</span></div><div><span style="color:#ffffff;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="color:#ffffff;">- See sunrises and sunsets from the best locations.</span></div><div><span style="color:#ffffff;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="color:#ffffff;">- Walk dark beaches after midnight.</span></div><div><span style="color:#ffffff;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="color:#ffffff;">- Visit islands in the north and in the south.</span></div><div><span style="color:#ffffff;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="color:#ffffff;">- Party on the beach.</span></div><div><span style="color:#ffffff;"></span> </div><div><span style="color:#ffffff;"></span></div><div><span style="color:#ffffff;">- Buy cheap cool clothes in cool roads.</span></div><div><span style="color:#ffffff;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="color:#ffffff;">- Meet all sorts of sandy rocky wavy still-water cristaline dark-watered beaches.</span></div><div><span style="color:#ffffff;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="color:#ffffff;">- Do or experience anything out of the ordinary you may ever have wanted to: if you thought of it, it is there, you can do it in Thailand.</span></div><div><span style="color:#ffffff;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="color:#ffffff;">- Travel comfortably in an already welcoming colourful smooth Thai flight.</span></div><div><span style="color:#ffffff;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="color:#ffffff;">- Walk the roads bear-feet.</span></div><div><span style="color:#ffffff;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="color:#ffffff;">- See the most paradisiac things ever: </span></div><div><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh6MyFk0WgsRBF779RBboLzFi-4kGn-8oGRm2cgy6C-kDhjswP7i8O0cZsJu_wnTyShFuBkk71oQih3Dg4qanA60kS9VsZ04Mnq7Fra2pBgynKrjwSHJhtpf5n4PRIhfqy7Yvn7zoJA8eW1/s1600-h/PC220132.JPG"><span style="color:#ffffff;"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5291256075806586674" style="WIDTH: 320px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 240px" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh6MyFk0WgsRBF779RBboLzFi-4kGn-8oGRm2cgy6C-kDhjswP7i8O0cZsJu_wnTyShFuBkk71oQih3Dg4qanA60kS9VsZ04Mnq7Fra2pBgynKrjwSHJhtpf5n4PRIhfqy7Yvn7zoJA8eW1/s320/PC220132.JPG" border="0" /></span></a><span style="color:#ffffff;"><br /><br /></span></div><div><span style="color:#ffffff;">- from pirate treasure beach discovered after swimming under a pitch dark cave... to snorkelling just to swim together with an amazingly diverse underwater world.</span></div><div><span style="color:#ffffff;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="color:#ffffff;">- from the thinest smoothiest whitest sand... to the clearest most cristaline most turquois or transparent ocean waters... to the sweetest coconuts under their trees.</span></div><div><span style="color:#ffffff;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="color:#ffffff;">- from watching gigantic ocean stones... to having your boat touch dreamlands of palm-trees and beach.</span></div><div><span style="color:#ffffff;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="color:#ffffff;">- from the amazing waterfall site... to having its litters of salty water dropping heavily on your shoulders.</span></div><div><span style="color:#ffffff;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="color:#ffffff;">- From feeling like you're sailing the fancy boat with your singing in the front... to having the strong ocean splashes on your face when travelling in a fisherman boat that caught a big current.</span></div><div><span style="color:#ffffff;"></span> </div><div><span style="color:#ffffff;"></span></div><div><span style="color:#ffffff;"></span></div><div><span style="color:#ffffff;"></span></div><div><span style="color:#ffffff;"></span></div></div><div><div><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi-EyLJIYLTInbX1cIbQQ3UaGIQ8beogSI3NqpT0yndDBMhK_E6E52hWuuJ8Oel7_wiYkqiYcgh_g0Akd7jqoK4GJySRpWz_r1hQcYV057tFey_GIFaJM_PgJ0FDdusGVW5isnHKQD757cR/s1600-h/DSC04869.JPG"><span style="color:#ffffff;"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5291256069426835298" style="WIDTH: 320px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 240px" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi-EyLJIYLTInbX1cIbQQ3UaGIQ8beogSI3NqpT0yndDBMhK_E6E52hWuuJ8Oel7_wiYkqiYcgh_g0Akd7jqoK4GJySRpWz_r1hQcYV057tFey_GIFaJM_PgJ0FDdusGVW5isnHKQD757cR/s320/DSC04869.JPG" border="0" /></span></a><span style="color:#ffffff;"><br /><br />- From dancing the maddest ever with hardly any clothes on, on the beach, feet on the sand and the sea, temperature: high, in 2 very important nights: christmas, new years eve... to having some of the most special people in your life by your side all the time.</span></div><div><br /><span style="color:#ffffff;">- From watching golden Reclining Budha... to attending the simple rituals of the budhist spiritual commons.</span></div><div><br /><span style="color:#ffffff;">- From the smiles of all the people... to the life in the floating market, where you watch and buy everything from canoes...</span></div><div><br /><span style="color:#ffffff;">: ... if they told me this and the more I'm not able to tell you all, I'd definitelly say this is what salvation dreams should be all about. :) </span></div><div><span style="color:#ffffff;"><br /></span></div><div><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEidDTbq-3YOyPhBZoGew_vjAN3aY88B03T9xUfxNZp1Q4ebji3wcPyVPhv4Y9quZ2OT0yHMbGdVkpzu1zW-iCBgPe-W9K83Wr4Xu2Dzu3qg0HW_FxvYIPJ4evlIdfrr-UHthQ9VPaDXZuu-/s1600-h/Thailand_337.jpg"><span style="color:#ffffff;"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5291257943400797986" style="WIDTH: 320px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 240px" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEidDTbq-3YOyPhBZoGew_vjAN3aY88B03T9xUfxNZp1Q4ebji3wcPyVPhv4Y9quZ2OT0yHMbGdVkpzu1zW-iCBgPe-W9K83Wr4Xu2Dzu3qg0HW_FxvYIPJ4evlIdfrr-UHthQ9VPaDXZuu-/s320/Thailand_337.jpg" border="0" /></span></a></div></div></div></div>Ráhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12728491369182071333noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-691805614896275297.post-25817232999606791202008-12-18T13:57:00.000-08:002009-01-18T16:16:35.761-08:00Working as a Volunteer<span style="color:#33ff33;"></span><br /><span style="color:#33ff33;">As this part of the amazing journey comes to an end [today], I want to explain to you all briefly what I have been doing as a Volunteer Project Manager for Lalita Shivaram Ubhayaker Foundation for the Arts, where I was very happy: </span><br /><div><div><br /><div><span style="color:#33ff33;"></span></div><div><span style="color:#33ff33;"><strong>Ashvasan Foundation</strong> (senior citizen welfare) -</span> <a href="http://www.ashvasan.org/">http://www.ashvasan.org/</a></div><div><span style="color:#33ff33;">• Conception and management of innovative projects; • Fund-raising; • Reporting, optimization and participation in current projects; • Update and management of website and newsletter. </span></div><br /><div><span style="color:#33ff33;"><strong>Smriti-Nandan Cultural Centre</strong> (art & culture centre and auditorium) - <a href="http://www.smritinandan.org/">http://www.smritinandan.org/</a></span></div><div><span style="color:#33ff33;">• Event conception and management; • Communication design and management; • Technical assistance for programming.</span></div><br /><div><span style="color:#33ff33;"><strong>22nd Devnandan Ubhayaker Young Music Festival </strong>-</span> <a href="http://www.smritinandan.org/dusu.html">http://www.smritinandan.org/dusu.html</a></div><div><span style="color:#33ff33;">• Communication design and management; • Merchandising and media management; • Backstage assistance.</span></div><br /><div><span style="color:#33ff33;">Check some pictures below. :)</span></div><br /><div><span style="color:#33ff33;">I am leaving to Thailand today.<br />I am wishing all of you a lot of peace, faith, tolerance, health, love, ineer and outer discovery, realization, happiness, positive thinking and worthy investment in <strong>2009</strong>.</span></div><br /><div></div><div><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5281255533734519826" style="WIDTH: 320px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 240px" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg99Tko-7ztCNcuawAU_nqOO8T2akRkr1xSfIe3p7U5kNXoro90xCgj93mJdCtzinW2eWyhEQYSf-IJWuZU8yIeStH5ra2dN3qqDIzSrI8kGl68z1SYD5fzivyfOI-sotsgE4jDwqn3yDuu/s320/PC150006.JPG" border="0" /> <a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgAIlPaJ7USiHYiU4rzwoB1gMi5xoU8bP7xKggDoao5H1zWU4L3eVipVCK9qVgMcxR82VjpmLwmkji_A1HCGa5rQtTN1b7F93aVH95AfM6DNCFt16zjsvN6sWVImUpmY-Eaep5Y_ylU-oNq/s1600-h/PB131048.JPG"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5281255526259880466" style="WIDTH: 320px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 240px" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgAIlPaJ7USiHYiU4rzwoB1gMi5xoU8bP7xKggDoao5H1zWU4L3eVipVCK9qVgMcxR82VjpmLwmkji_A1HCGa5rQtTN1b7F93aVH95AfM6DNCFt16zjsvN6sWVImUpmY-Eaep5Y_ylU-oNq/s320/PB131048.JPG" border="0" /></a><br /></div><br /><div><div><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEixCS7GXxScF2DZ_8zoeiPMX-jBcdNavsPG9_IxhcgbPJRDc0nlc45SIWJ7qoXLpMrQQyzAeiM03ZvTR8OUKizBqpfdVNDYhVI1-EYGY9uY-mgVwwGXvksgReUs59foRa9DT7VbwF-CnMYJ/s1600-h/P8260012.JPG"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5281255512651109554" style="WIDTH: 320px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 240px" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEixCS7GXxScF2DZ_8zoeiPMX-jBcdNavsPG9_IxhcgbPJRDc0nlc45SIWJ7qoXLpMrQQyzAeiM03ZvTR8OUKizBqpfdVNDYhVI1-EYGY9uY-mgVwwGXvksgReUs59foRa9DT7VbwF-CnMYJ/s320/P8260012.JPG" border="0" /></a> <a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhkrNfobZcn6Tdlp9yjPRlmYPv4Dqf0zVUCNbyEjhfyQmypESRtZrWhTrE5SNxyRsIu6oJyOKSB1K7l9rtLe_RmX5S9OopZ-0L0aaewEA4_DKOTFNy3hc_wbywEzPaa8EnduNQuQPOCZcmj/s1600-h/PB241218.JPG"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5281255505677379538" style="WIDTH: 240px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 320px" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhkrNfobZcn6Tdlp9yjPRlmYPv4Dqf0zVUCNbyEjhfyQmypESRtZrWhTrE5SNxyRsIu6oJyOKSB1K7l9rtLe_RmX5S9OopZ-0L0aaewEA4_DKOTFNy3hc_wbywEzPaa8EnduNQuQPOCZcmj/s320/PB241218.JPG" border="0" /></a><br /><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiwgnNkUEKYS2mY7I1xZzPHxDvePUYHyiUewKBtg8N-bI8Lg2CWfzLXhZWfhKcUYBfkcKTXqxKjM3qTo2AXLkz7qg1aLQS_K0Qdfpc0JKwNLzO4lT14fauKaCfJEbUM9d4hsbchv6eTwErv/s1600-h/n541066422_1552052_463.jpg"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5281258882404298882" style="WIDTH: 320px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 213px" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiwgnNkUEKYS2mY7I1xZzPHxDvePUYHyiUewKBtg8N-bI8Lg2CWfzLXhZWfhKcUYBfkcKTXqxKjM3qTo2AXLkz7qg1aLQS_K0Qdfpc0JKwNLzO4lT14fauKaCfJEbUM9d4hsbchv6eTwErv/s320/n541066422_1552052_463.jpg" border="0" /></a><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgHEvEaZWPWov0lFaszJczF0ZwbvMguQVoRLC_JYb_mo6Ye_8cfmUGvHkwU9NK0k7Zt70NhDyy8r0neN2CcS4PrHOE-HcCoGnCQAtMb-KUDptKI-CD6NlUqHD0WUMIcZasbPbrgk4EvSaEV/s1600-h/PA311022.JPG"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5281258877008668386" style="WIDTH: 320px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 240px" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgHEvEaZWPWov0lFaszJczF0ZwbvMguQVoRLC_JYb_mo6Ye_8cfmUGvHkwU9NK0k7Zt70NhDyy8r0neN2CcS4PrHOE-HcCoGnCQAtMb-KUDptKI-CD6NlUqHD0WUMIcZasbPbrgk4EvSaEV/s320/PA311022.JPG" border="0" /></a><br /><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh9CNNJpECo3W_-r_LmCU1A84wJdt1s32A0Z9ddaG6bxr3aYXS8c_PAsjeG2v9U65b3Ja96h5xwsvhLVEvR2NG2UKTneQP_OAov6gmrIz7ucX9TGkS1IQnkyvxtlThayJbfqH9I8ffkGdnl/s1600-h/PA230825.JPG"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5281258866114096706" style="WIDTH: 320px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 240px" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh9CNNJpECo3W_-r_LmCU1A84wJdt1s32A0Z9ddaG6bxr3aYXS8c_PAsjeG2v9U65b3Ja96h5xwsvhLVEvR2NG2UKTneQP_OAov6gmrIz7ucX9TGkS1IQnkyvxtlThayJbfqH9I8ffkGdnl/s320/PA230825.JPG" border="0" /></a><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhu3-ob_Nkg1eJo2lhdIIujwB8iiQDQtPs6MPCs1AyAAfODjxJz-wesXm7zgB_CNVlo_UrsV_MW2J-tOtXYbPo5T5TooRpvu3xKgt5ytYsTaItSm80Z_hgwQ4L4F09AcmE6Vr2sZFqsWkpP/s1600-h/P7110288.JPG"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5281258862556129442" style="WIDTH: 320px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 240px" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhu3-ob_Nkg1eJo2lhdIIujwB8iiQDQtPs6MPCs1AyAAfODjxJz-wesXm7zgB_CNVlo_UrsV_MW2J-tOtXYbPo5T5TooRpvu3xKgt5ytYsTaItSm80Z_hgwQ4L4F09AcmE6Vr2sZFqsWkpP/s320/P7110288.JPG" border="0" /></a> </div></div></div></div>Ráhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12728491369182071333noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-691805614896275297.post-5018014919044436072008-12-09T22:03:00.000-08:002008-12-14T04:11:13.039-08:00Latest news from the heart<span style="color:#ffff00;"><strong>MY CHOICE!</strong><br /></span><div><div><span style="color:#ffff00;">My Choice! has been a life-time experience. Actually building something from scratch especially a social responsible initiative is a great feeling, sharing it with people you love and admire even greater. But then seing the happiness in the children, the actual impact you had on their awareness, the ammount of lives that you touched, the social momentum that you created together with friends just because you'll believed, faught and dedicated... is something out of this world.</span></div><div><span style="color:#ffff00;">Right now we're preparing winning children's trips and the passing of the contents for a company who wants to take our project all over India to as many schools as possible. How incredible is that?</span></div><span style="color:#ffff00;"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5278058304431548194" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 400px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 193px; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgo19VyqqYauIGjE8rziQJZywSz6ysn9AdbZVojTJoDC3VAdBvWbNUVF9ALYZC3Ze109GMgxEbyAYZGO74FR7nww8uqkkdwT6RU4dX9RTfNGesewEje1KdgoAuO7WG0pAZeA8UUpHOBP9y4/s400/IMG_6002-1.JPG" border="0" /><br /></span><div></div><div><span style="color:#ffff00;"></span></div><div><span style="color:#ffff00;"><strong>CONCLUSION</strong> from 6 months of VOLUNTEER work with Seniors, Art & Culture and Children: IT IS VERY SIMPLE TO DO SOMETHING ABOUT IT. IF YOU GENUINELY WANT. It's not a matter of time, but of commitment and belief.</span></div><br /><div><strong><span style="color:#ffff00;">DANCE</span></strong></div><div><span style="color:#ffff00;">Getting back to dancing and teaching was great. I rediscovered my passion for teaching, while the passion for dance was never forgotten. I had decided to leave that part of my professional life aside during this experience, but I guess when you really love something and when that thing and those partaking in it love You in It, it just chases you wherever you go. And that is good. Because WHEN DANCING THAT'S WHEN I FEEL MORE MYSELF.</span></div><div><span style="color:#ffff00;"></span></div><br /><div><span style="color:#ffff00;">* By the way: should there be something like I and MYSELF? I am working on this sense of oneness with myself and with all that <em>is</em>.</span></div><div><span style="color:#ffff00;"></span></div><div></div><div></div><div><span style="color:#ffff00;"></span></div><span style="color:#ffff00;"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5278056744097399250" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 400px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 309px; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhuE2xJ5fe9OMGglKteX0CV07Q7rau9IcKsuBLAhvHLBKGIIOHZ2n4VAEJaI4PQK1y8EKix8I5sq6Yx5NXmW3Fa5jGk5lSnqmSqNpiOJ2BT3HuacGxJTiwdUXFLdTfXdQKK7SeRgQ8rFBMN/s400/scan0003.jpg" border="0" /><strong>COUNT-DOWN<br /></strong></span><div><span style="color:#ffff00;">The feeling of count-down is in me as my internship is about to finish, my dance classes, my immersion in My Choice!, my basing in Bangalore and with my best friends and myself leaving.</span></div><div><span style="color:#ffff00;">With my Thailand trip coming, meeting Johan in 10 days, Christmas away from family, packing having started, spiritual and natural experiences ahead of me, antecipation of separation from the daily sharing with my new Indian family, strong decisions to be made in face of India's unstable situation, more and more trips being planned and an increasing feeling of SENSE IN LIFE, I am nostalgic about what's about to end but also excited about the new stage about to start.</span></div><div><span style="color:#ffff00;">I am sure to be in the right path and happy to have my parents' support, as always, in whatever I decide. I love you, mãe and pai, for that and for all.</span></div></div>Ráhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12728491369182071333noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-691805614896275297.post-85307489306291393112008-12-04T01:00:00.000-08:002008-12-08T21:39:34.786-08:00After Mumbai Attacks<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjKUX9IWLtWfg6vdfvjsU3kqD3xlKRN91dlO7Fi5gC51G6knzEOAA-17nUk8pQYR9OCFW5adbA2BrkHmGmX13v6R86Eiy5ZvpDlNdbBopSanB63lj3ELyaT0I2zuOlXZei3LLu_q6LDEGi2/s1600-h/bengaluru-habba-colour-n1_sufi%5B1%5D.JPG"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5275888633775014978" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 240px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 333px; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjKUX9IWLtWfg6vdfvjsU3kqD3xlKRN91dlO7Fi5gC51G6knzEOAA-17nUk8pQYR9OCFW5adbA2BrkHmGmX13v6R86Eiy5ZvpDlNdbBopSanB63lj3ELyaT0I2zuOlXZei3LLu_q6LDEGi2/s320/bengaluru-habba-colour-n1_sufi%5B1%5D.JPG" border="0" /></a><strong> <span style="color:#999900;">AFTER MUMBAI ATTACKS<br /></span></strong><p><strong><span style="color:#999900;">... shock, sadness, revolt agains those responsible and those in charge...</span></strong></p><p><strong><span style="color:#999900;">AND THE LIFE OF THE COUNTRY, AND MINE... CHANGING.</span></strong></p><p><strong><span style="color:#999900;">I was going to teach for the biggest Festival here - Bangalore Habba (check the last line of the poster above). It just got cancelled.</span></strong></p><span style="color:#999900;"><strong>THIS WAS THEIR LETTER to the artists:</strong><br /></span><p><span style="color:#999900;">At the outset, on behalf of the Artistes' Foundation for the Arts (AFFA), we would like to thank you for your support towards Bengaluru Habba. </span></p><p><span style="color:#999900;">The Government of Karnataka – the prime stakeholder of the property - has taken a decision in the cabinet to postpone the event due to security reasons. As the Bengaluru Habba is spread over numerous venues and public spaces over a span of 18 days, with a potential audience of over 7 lakh people, we felt that our prime responsibility was to ensure the safety of our audiences. </span></p><p><span style="color:#999900;">AFFA, Airtel and the Government of Karnataka have thus decided to unanimously postpone the Bengaluru Habba. We will let you know the probable dates and schedule of events soon. </span></p><p><span style="color:#999900;">We hope that you would understand the situation and that we look forward to associating with you in the years to come. Please accept our humblest apologies for any inconvenience caused to you. </span></p><p><span style="color:#999900;">Thank you.</span></p>Ráhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12728491369182071333noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-691805614896275297.post-10527542807016074682008-11-17T02:41:00.001-08:002008-11-17T03:08:25.911-08:00Is it really like that there? - Pedro asks<span style="color:#ffffff;">Is it really like that there? - Pedro asks</span><br /><span style="color:#ffffff;">Yes. Everyday. Everywhere.</span><br /><span style="color:#ffffff;">Driving and Traffic in India:</span><br /><br /><iframe allowfullscreen='allowfullscreen' webkitallowfullscreen='webkitallowfullscreen' mozallowfullscreen='mozallowfullscreen' width='320' height='266' src='https://www.blogger.com/video.g?token=AD6v5dyN2XsQdj1uXhg1XT1rij4atH_B7bs-iPkupcsq0ZnX6nBjEGIEuE5eqxkNfNoi2bvBqlLQ6A6vQjquDkE3OQ' class='b-hbp-video b-uploaded' frameborder='0'></iframe>Ráhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12728491369182071333noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-691805614896275297.post-67584185269058253852008-11-17T01:00:00.000-08:002008-12-09T22:37:25.604-08:00Findings<span style="color:#00cccc;"></span><br /><span style="color:#00cccc;">In such little time, I feel an unexplainable bond with the Ubhayakers. I feel as part of the family and I feel a deep respect and privilege, happiness and security but most of all a tremendous blessing for being embraced among them, share their life stories, learn from their wisdom and be inspired daily by such honourable, accomplished, socially active, warm-hearted, forward-thinking human beings whom I will forever take as role-models in so many senses of my life. I am greatful forever to Life and Mrs. Lalita for this opportunity that made me grow so much especially on a personal level, and I reinforce my sense that nothing comes coincidentally, and certainly not this experience, and also that some bonds are cosmic and independent from age, race, religion, upbringing, information... I shall honour my new revered God-Mother and the moments we lived and will live together.</span><br /><br /><br /><p><span style="color:#00cccc;">......</span></p><span style="color:#00cccc;"></span><br /><span style="color:#00cccc;">I went to Goa last month.</span><br /><br /><span style="color:#00cccc;">More than a Portuguese heritage hunt, it was a beach life trip where friendships were reinforced and the wonders and baths of Nature striked all of us.</span><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhCmpXv_CaIDwL-fWFo4bFTjOCJHT-S9JgYYHSohUGNLAlTtcVeFe35mW2hyhkM_TI3u1wQ5_tQI4Bqmsz3af9Ww031NLZUWc90pYMg8Py2s7ehdSh-L2BQtEgk2FwCpQ_5WkV4ng_tnm_d/s1600-h/Goa_Oct+08+048.jpg"><span style="color:#00cccc;"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5269563043149281954" style="FLOAT: left; MARGIN: 0px 10px 10px 0px; WIDTH: 320px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 240px" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhCmpXv_CaIDwL-fWFo4bFTjOCJHT-S9JgYYHSohUGNLAlTtcVeFe35mW2hyhkM_TI3u1wQ5_tQI4Bqmsz3af9Ww031NLZUWc90pYMg8Py2s7ehdSh-L2BQtEgk2FwCpQ_5WkV4ng_tnm_d/s320/Goa_Oct+08+048.jpg" border="0" /></span></a><span style="color:#00cccc;"><br /></span><span style="color:#00cccc;">Together: Raquel, Maria, António and Afonso from Portugal, Mariana, André, Ricardo and Evandro from Brazil, Pauline and Anne-Sophie from France, Ahmed from Egipt and Nataly from Colombia.</span><br /><span style="color:#00cccc;"></span><br /><span style="color:#00cccc;">The best-kept memories are: that of a sunset at Vagatore beach, where the forest meets the beach, the rain met the farewell of the sun and gifted us with two simultaneous rainbows, rocks were climbed with the help of Andre to see the dawn from "the middle of the ocean" while all the friends watched it from the water (I did it the following day); and still that of ridding a scooter for the first time; dancing my spirit out at Mambo's; savouring fish and portuguese influenced savouries still with sandy feet; and shopping for clothes at the locals' tents. These and still some more of love, sharing and new experiences with every day more brother-alike friends. </span><br /><span style="color:#00cccc;"><br /><br /></span><span style="color:#00cccc;"></span><span style="color:#00cccc;">Also last month: travelled back to Pondicherry as Auroville needed to be revisited. </span><br /><span style="color:#00cccc;"></span><br /><span style="color:#00cccc;">Out of that trip with André, Mariana, Evandro, Ricardo, Pauline, Neeraj from India and Svetla</span><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhpk24Gd0lRzcscc-mjsi5-8wKP2damO2lb8A-uvEyXfZZJwkfLZ0BY3BTviiI3BfR-rYXqZ6OMH3wWcjlhZyW5we9pHo20hueA80WN8akKVsYrWhjY92y-W-Zb0T_7W0jMCzhZ26Q_bHH0/s1600-h/n1144795970_179370_4613.jpg"><span style="color:#00cccc;"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5269564338996113314" style="FLOAT: right; MARGIN: 0px 0px 10px 10px; WIDTH: 320px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 240px" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhpk24Gd0lRzcscc-mjsi5-8wKP2damO2lb8A-uvEyXfZZJwkfLZ0BY3BTviiI3BfR-rYXqZ6OMH3wWcjlhZyW5we9pHo20hueA80WN8akKVsYrWhjY92y-W-Zb0T_7W0jMCzhZ26Q_bHH0/s320/n1144795970_179370_4613.jpg" border="0" /></span></a><span style="color:#00cccc;"> from Bulgary... I took the great luxurious relaxed beach life at Mahabalipuram, the comfort of travelling in private or rented vehicle with a driver, the apparent easy-living at Pondi - that coastal city colonized by the french, sharing care and love with my best friends here, meeting Kurt in Sri Aurobindo's Ashram in a totally sinchronized non-coincidental happening, but mostly the certainty that I'll go back to Auroville to live the concept and the truth - check </span><a href="http://www.auroville.org/"><span style="color:#00cccc;">http://www.auroville.org/</span></a><span style="color:#00cccc;">. This time I had the privilege of going inside the Matrimandir and meditate for 15 minutes in the most profound silence in 25 years of existence in a white room enlighted by a cristal. Some truths reveal, the atmosphere and intents, I totally identify with them >> have to get back. Will in the beggining of 2009.</span>Ráhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12728491369182071333noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-691805614896275297.post-68019660640104054282008-11-11T21:06:00.000-08:002008-11-11T22:10:56.297-08:00Still Blessed… Just check this week’s news<span style="color:#ffcc00;"><strong>Tuesday, 4.Nov.08</strong><br />Ø Started working with the biggest <strong>Salsa Company</strong> in Bangalore – Lourd Vijay Dance Studio (</span><a href="http://www.lvds.in/"><span style="color:#ffcc00;">http://www.lvds.in/</span></a><span style="color:#ffcc00;">)- with African workshop for the dancers 8 a.m to 9.30 – even though the sound system didn’t work, it was a success to be continued the following 3 mornings. This day: general Hip and Arm Work with Tribal sound, Batuko, Kolá San Jon and Mazurca.<br />Ø Attended Satsang – Hour of Good, the Spiritual session I frequent at my <a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhxHPQeL4hKindqkNcDyGpAsmVIc0awjwNUW8opn4aVYizJaQAwJ_j0FAGDT2FRkPlpSv2gJqCht2Uf2T73b1VaheFzkGiUgfPEDFyqa3yJqdc3rqUHBK_Uyjv9ykI5tqWCAIk00asZRpBq/s1600-h/untitled.bmp"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5267644981435940178" style="FLOAT: right; MARGIN: 0px 0px 10px 10px; WIDTH: 142px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 200px" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhxHPQeL4hKindqkNcDyGpAsmVIc0awjwNUW8opn4aVYizJaQAwJ_j0FAGDT2FRkPlpSv2gJqCht2Uf2T73b1VaheFzkGiUgfPEDFyqa3yJqdc3rqUHBK_Uyjv9ykI5tqWCAIk00asZRpBq/s200/untitled.bmp" border="0" /></a>centre on a weekly basis. We are reading “<strong>The Power of Now</strong>”, by Eckhart Tolle. Probably the book that will provoke the second spiritual turning point in my life (the first was “Celestine Prophecy”, by James Redfield, many years ago). Kurt and André, my friends from My Choice! project were there too.<br />Ø Mrs. Lalita’s niece was helding a private classical indian music concert in her hall/ living-room. We were invited to join and sat on the carpet watching this transe-inspiring voice singing a classical recital. I felt that I got out of this world and came back: the emotion and vibration of the singing, tabla, harmonium and tampura together made that one of the most emotioned musical moments of my life. In the end Mrs. Lalita cried looking at me, as she hugged me saying: “<strong>the way you were feeling the music, my God!!</strong>” – I really was, somehow, even without understanding any technicality of it.<br />Ø Had nice dinner with Kurt, speaking of trips, My Choice!, healing technics, plans and unplans.<br /><br /><strong>Wednesday, 5.Nov.08</strong><br />Ø Dance Company applied last days’ learning in music: Hip Work, Batuko, Kolá San Jon, and we added Ragga and Soucusse.<br />Ø Had my <strong>Odissi Dance Class</strong> – Odissi is a classical Indian form of dance that has its origin in Orissa, in northern India. I feel drastic improvement in exactly the three things I specially needed to work on my fitness: flexibility, balance and discipline/ persistence.<br />Ø <strong>My Choice!</strong> – it’s more then time to tell you all about this project me and 3 other expatriates lauched in Bangalore – we are bringing sustainability issues to Bangalore school children. This happens in 3 stages: 1 – inspirational and interactive classroom sessions conducted mostly by expatriates; 2 – live simulation where some of the kids from the classrooms come together to learn more about sustainability through experience and games; 3 – teams of students build <a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg-XoPF8KdmEh1JTHOz_Z5_6bFTR7v4E5_gKleioeiwMiHNORrnlUlZqAvr850RWAVAlzlFtXXUxhOIb80HzOzeDViiu2zsfHLmB6YWB2zWjvI994VKbu3emvH8YCItk-3v8GfIoBbjL0Od/s1600-h/logo.bmp"></a>projects trying to reach Zero Waste in there school, be it on the level of energy, food, water consumption, waste, etc. And 4 – we will do a final Fair and Awards night where media, principals from other schools who may take the programme up, parents, etc, will see the projects, a jury will evaluate them and the documentary we will have filmed during this pilot of My Choice! will be showcased as a best-practice case. <strong>PLEASE DO CHECK</strong> </span><a href="http://www.mychoicebangalore.org/"><span style="color:#ffcc00;">www.mychoicebangalore.org</span></a><span style="color:#ffcc00;"> <strong>AND</strong> </span><a href="http://mychoice08.ning.com/"><span style="color:#ffcc00;">http://mychoice08.ning.com</span></a><span style="color:#ffcc00;"> <strong>FOR MORE DETAILS<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEim6PiHTyg1OtogZQn4H1UnGRTcLKTjzj4xbrCwCdzHyxVE_NY4cypcSSqgIrYW6c2geKtV2wvS4qJVT33fX-rnltx8GEH15VnnS8mSk_mysXjYxrkgFYNOlHQOkKgngFPVxATUcViglZLK/s1600-h/logo.bmp"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5267645317424046562" style="FLOAT: right; MARGIN: 0px 0px 10px 10px; WIDTH: 200px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 88px" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEim6PiHTyg1OtogZQn4H1UnGRTcLKTjzj4xbrCwCdzHyxVE_NY4cypcSSqgIrYW6c2geKtV2wvS4qJVT33fX-rnltx8GEH15VnnS8mSk_mysXjYxrkgFYNOlHQOkKgngFPVxATUcViglZLK/s200/logo.bmp" border="0" /></a></strong> on this initiative. So this day we gave our second training to the expatriates who will be mentors in class-room sessions and for the sustainable projects realization by the students’ teams.<br /><br /><strong>Thursday, 6.Nov.08 – DEFINITELY ONE OF THE BEST DAYS OF MY LIFE</strong><br />Ø "Como se dice? Como se llama? Obama! Obama!"</span><br /><span style="color:#ffcc00;">Ø Couple work started with Lourd Vijay Company: back to Mazurca, introducing Kizomba individual and in couple and finishing with Kuduro.<br />Ø Was invited to give workshops and dance for the biggest festival in Bangalore – the <strong>Bangalore Habba.</strong><br />Ø Was invited to be<strong> interviewed</strong> by one of the upstream newspapers in the city, The Hindu<br />Ø Received a Yes from a personal contact (through Mrs. U) in a wild-life sanctuary to <strong>sponsoring an Award</strong> for one of the winning teams in My Choice! Project Awards, the prize being a 3-day retreat in this sanctuary in Coorg – </span><a href="http://www.saisanctuary.com/"><span style="color:#ffcc00;">www.saisanctuary.com</span></a><br /><span style="color:#ffcc00;">Ø Confirmed the presence of My Choice! Team in Chinnara Habba on the 20th of November, in Palace Grounds, <strong>SPEAKING ABOUT SUSTAINABILITY TO 100.000 CHILDREN</strong> through a quiz my team is developing.<br />Ø AND MOST IMPORTANTLY: MY MENTOR, <strong>MRS. LALITA UBHAYAKER, NAMED ME HER GOD-DAUGHTER</strong>. I couldn’t feel more blessed and fortunate.<br />Ø Called my mother and André and SMS’ed Johan and Pedro: had to tell them how happy I was.<br />Ø Came home to a great sharing moment with Katherine, good friend, great non-coincidence in my life who is just about to leave back to San Francisco, USA.<br /><br /><strong>Friday, 7.Nov.08</strong><br />Ø Finished the workshop with Lourd Vijay Dance Company having taught the basics of 10 african-originated rhythms (ending with Semba, Funaná, Kuduro and a revision of the other rhythms), with great response and invitations to give private lessons to the choreographer and the main dancer.<br />Ø Was invited to dance at a Media Seminar and a Flee-Market in Bangalore.<br />Ø Was very tired and again saw how I found myself one more family, two more parents, in the Ubhayakers, as they worry for me and take care of me. <a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhNNXYjCVt0sb9eV1zessU5pFHQjC_d1Js_ok9Dkv-ADeMyxPCCW5pBcYwSSB2il-0kHtlGW4FHC0zdu-ssfPStAPsmenAVskKjYQXNeVPTSaTa3_rNg7CAedocsTfGofbaw09A_S-2zobU/s1600-h/eleventhhour.jpg"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5267646074126051218" style="FLOAT: right; MARGIN: 0px 0px 10px 10px; WIDTH: 176px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 200px" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhNNXYjCVt0sb9eV1zessU5pFHQjC_d1Js_ok9Dkv-ADeMyxPCCW5pBcYwSSB2il-0kHtlGW4FHC0zdu-ssfPStAPsmenAVskKjYQXNeVPTSaTa3_rNg7CAedocsTfGofbaw09A_S-2zobU/s200/eleventhhour.jpg" border="0" /></a><br />Ø Held a movie screening of <strong>“11th Hour” film-documentary</strong>, produced by Leonardo Di <a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj-TySv5GMKfEGUQPmXq-7vTuX5Cd5jFFRXlShrMhGD0RUdGqGmOqZqo0t3_sASv9wjOT6vWUI41m4i53MdndQ6BHFaRdAIcaSoMbga9B0pVXwF9jhqoMDB39tIiAJ2L-JZfY6wPHxVJ9DZ/s1600-h/eleventhhour.jpg"></a>Caprio, followed by a discussion on environmental issues. This initiative was promoted by Smriti-Nandan and me and conducted by an already good friend and fundamental piece in My Choice! creation: Kurt Archer, Canadian Eco-traveller and environmentalist, currently travelling Asia raising awareness around sustainability issues (</span><a href="http://www.globaldamu.org/asia/"><span style="color:#ffcc00;">http://www.globaldamu.org/asia/</span></a><span style="color:#ffcc00;">). It was a success, the movie – I knew it already – is much more impacting and positive then An Inconvenient Truth even: you should see it. The discussion that followed and the commitment of some of the audience led Mrs. Lalita to start a series of initiatives around <strong>Environment </strong>and a discussion circle that will gather some of the people present that day: “<strong>What can we do about it?</strong>”.<br />Ø My Choice! Team had had the privilege of being invited to stay for dinner at the Ubhayakers after the movie. And whom else stayed and inspired us all dinner-long but two of <strong>the greatest environmentalists of Karnataka</strong>? Lovely Awe-like evening, ending with Mr. Hiblekar accepting to be Chief Guest at My Choice! Award Ceremony.<br /><br /><strong>Saturday, 8.Nov.08</strong><br />Ø Started teaching <strong>private Sevillanas lessons</strong> at her place, to a Bharatanatyam dancer and singer, Mrs. Susheela, the niece of the Ubhayakers who had hosted the classical concert on Tuesday. Great experience working with dancers again, as they catch everything so fast that we don’t have to worry but with the perfection details (I mean as much as I can correct them, of course, not being a professional in Spanish Dances)<br />Ø In the afternoon, the second of my <strong>World Dances Workshop</strong> sessions was even better then the first. Both kids and adults had a blast – I could tell by the clapping, laughing and rising energy: Salsa, Mambo, Bachata, Cha Cha Cha and Merengue lifted their soul for 1h30 hours (x 2).<br />Ø Had many friends surprising me at the centre and joining the last fun dance moments of the class. Our photographer and My Choice! documentary-film-maker Arvind also came to cover my workshop.<br />Ø Was contacted by a photo-journalist coming from the States who wants to do a <strong>photo-essay on me</strong>.<br />Ø Was contacted by the same Salsa Company to held a <strong>workshop </strong>for their students the following Sunday - check the page on Facebook: <a href="http://www.facebook.com/event.php?eid=39749890094">http://www.facebook.com/event.php?eid=39749890094</a><br />Ø Had dinner at my favourite place, Empire, with friends.<br /><br /><strong>Sunday, 9.Nov.08</strong><br />Ø After sleeping 15 hours as never in India as I needed to recover from such an energetic week, went to Opus (where the Salsa Company has their studio) and attended an advanced salsa class as an invitee. In the end, I did an energetic <strong>5 minute Demo</strong> of what the African Dance workshop will be the coming Sunday to attract students into attending it.<br />Ø Got invited by the owner of the company to give a <strong>Kizomba workshop at Chennai Salsa Festival</strong> on the 23rd of June.<br />Ø Went to <strong>have tea at Mrs. Deepti’s house</strong>, an Indian dancer, journalist, architect, painter and spiritual guru/ yogi who lived in the States for 14 years and had attended my Spanish Dances Workshop the prior weekend.<br />Ø After coming home to change, went with Katherine, Alexandra, Andre, Kurt and other 3 new international friends to <strong>Casa del Sol for my first Salsa party in Bangalore</strong> where I found again everyone from the Dance Company and other schools and danced in a couple as I didn’t for almost half a year. Great!<br />Ø Was offered regular work as a dance teacher across India, in Thailand, Singapour, etc, by this Dance Company - in case I want to stay longer I definitely will have means of sustaining myself.<br /><br /><strong>Monday, 10.Nov.08</strong><br />Ø Back to my Odissi Class, am noticing technical improvements. The coordination of movements and the persistence necessary for the fitness work is great challenge and non-comparable to any other dance class I ever went to.<br />Ø Came home to an experience with <strong>Galvanic Spa</strong> provided by Katherine, that refreshed my face and face-lines in an incredibly drastic way in just 20 minutes – following came a great Indian dinner with Kat, Thripthi and Roshin.<br />Ø And then the so-expected <strong>photo-shooting</strong>: great session with Katherine on the camera and me on the modelling, Rodrigo Leão on the laptop, candles and a scarf over the light in the room. For a long time I wanted to try to have my pictures taken: again India is going beyond my expectations even in things that I didn’t establish as goals.<br /><br /><strong>Tuesday, 11.Nov.08</strong><br />Ø Richard Seshie, the Coordinator of My Choice!, gave us the news that someone from AIESEC is contributing with 100 euros for My Choice! Our first financial aid: a lot of happiness, very welcome: again a renewal on the good-will of many people in this world.<br />Ø Meeting with Ashvasan member who will intervene on the kick-off session of my Youth Programme at Mount Carmel College on the 13th: “Ashvasan Cares: Bridging Old and Young Hearts!”. I’m trying to get my senior citizen foundation some young blood, some young <strong>volunteers to work with the elderly</strong>. We are also wanting to raise awareness among youngsters on the situation of the senior citizens in India.<br />Ø One hour later, meeting with Mrs. Lalita, Kurt and Mrs. Sughatta, an <strong>organic farming promoter</strong> – subject: what our next steps should be on initiatives promoted by Smiri-Nandan on Environmental issues.<br />Ø One hour later, <strong>Satsang</strong> and again the tremendous words of Tolle in “The Power of Now”.<br />Ø One hour later, <strong>interview at The Hindu newspaper</strong> for a column on foreigners in Bangalore. Great interview: outcome to be published on Saturday.<br />Ø One hour and a half later, dinner at Coconut Groove with expatriates from 6 countries.<br />Ø Two hours alter, hearing from Roshin and Thripthi, in the house, about the cast system in India and the Malu weddings.<br />Ø Half an hour later, starting to write this as such a great week had to be shared with my precious family and friends.</span>Ráhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12728491369182071333noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-691805614896275297.post-5115704322918156312008-10-20T06:17:00.000-07:002008-10-20T06:32:59.782-07:00Dancing Passion in Words OR Bio Dancing Data<p><span style="color:#ff6600;"><span style="font-size:85%;">I was asked to write my bio-data because of the Workshop I'll be conducting. And this is how they do it here...</span> </span></p><p><span style="color:#ff6600;">Raquel Lemos is a Portuguese Dance Lover, Teacher and Performer who is now in India working as a volunteer for Lalita Ubhayaker Foundation for the Arts.<br />Raquel was born in a family that shares the passion for Dance. Since early age, being the daughter of a Cape-verdean (African) father and a Brazilian mother, Raquel started dancing as a pass-time, a hobbie and a way of expression, as dance was an essential part of her family’s life.<br /><br />While as a child she attended Ballet classes, from the age of 12 she started dancing Hip Hop. At 15, she was very active in the world of Fitness and started receiving training in Dance Monitoring. By the age of 16 she was conducting Hip Hop & Cardio-Funk classes both to Children and Adults on a regular basis. It was the beginning of her proficiency in dance.<br /><br />During High-School Raquel got involved in a Theatre Group, which gave her a different insight into performing arts and stage creations. Her studies led her to do a college degree in Communication & Culture, but her life-time passion kept calling for her dedication.<br /><br />Having contacted with the Latin Dance World, the community quickly and enthusiastically embraced her as a fast learner and a dancer from the heart. Few months later she was invited to become a dancer for Sabor Tropical Dance Company, which gave her personal training on the rhythms, moves and techniques of dances like Salsa, Cha Cha Cha, Merengue among others. She also received private lessons from the best Dance Masters in Portugal and overseas in the areas of Salsa, Zouk and other Latin and African dances.<br /><br />With her dance company, for 3 years Raquel Lemos travelled Portugal giving classes, workshops and animations in many sorts of events and venues, having performed in the most notorious Latin dance congresses in the country including some TV shows. During this period she created, together with a dance couple, an original unprecedented methodology for the teaching of Zouk (couple dance style original from former Portuguese colonies in Africa and the French Antilles), which is now being used by many masters a little bit all over the country.<br /><br />For the following years, she took training and traineeship in Show Production and contacted with some of the best practices in Hall and Cultural Management. In 2006, as she started her professional career as a Communication and Events Manager at the biggest private bank in Portugal, her time to teach and perform became limited. But as she took executive post-graduations in Events Management and Business Management, she still managed to use her spare evenings to perfection and diversify her dance skills, having attended several courses and regular classes in Sevillanas, Flamenco and Tango.<br /><br />Raquel is nowadays an accomplished and multi-style dancer who does occasional performances and workshops under request. During her stay in India where she came to do volunteer work, she performed four times already, mostly for clubs and associations like Ashvasan, and she’s taking classes in Odissi classical Dance. Raquel Lemos loves plastic and performing arts, and she has long decided to take up Art and Culture as a producer and a managing facilitator rather then as an artist. It is in this scope that she joined Mrs. Lalita Ubhayaker in her endeavours in Smriti-Nandan Cultural Centre, Yuva Sangeet Utsav and Ashvasan Foundation. She is now invited to do a recollection of all Dances she learned throughout her life and present a World Dances Workshop for Children and Adults at Smriti-Nandan.</span></p>Ráhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12728491369182071333noreply@blogger.com1